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Mamdani-led Socialist Democrats Win New York Primaries; Cristiano Ronaldo Scored Two Goals for Portugal to Become the First to Score Six World Cup Tournaments; Europe Experiencing Worst Heat Waves in Many Countries. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired June 24, 2026 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

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POLO SANDOVAL, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Hi everybody, so glad you could join us. I'm Polo Sandoval, live in New York, and this is what's coming your way here on "CNN Newsroom."

A clean sweep for candidates backed by New York's Democratic Socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani. What will it mean for the midterms? Well, we'll pose that question to an expert.

And Donald Trump's top diplomat headed to the second leg of his Mideast tour. What Gulf allies are saying about the U.S.-Iran agreement?

And the Tartan Army, descending on Miami for Scotland's World Cup match with Brazil. We'll be talking with a member of that army about a pretty concerning beer situation that's unfolding.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from New York, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Polo Sandoval.

SANDOVAL: Americans across four states cast their vote in primaries and runoffs ahead of the November midterm elections in the United States. The big story? A clean sweep for New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

You see, all three candidates that he endorsed -- all candidates that were endorsed by the Democratic Socialist Mayor, well, they won their House primaries, including Brett Lander, who actually ran against Mamdani during the mayoral election last year. Well, this time, he upset incumbent Congress member Dan Goldman.

In New York's 12th House district, CNN projecting state assembly member Micah Lasher will be advancing to the general election. Eight candidates in all, they were all vying for a chance to replace outgoing Rep. Jerry Nadler, who's retiring after 17 terms.

And this race was a crowded field, including JFK's grandson, Jack Schlossberg. Also, George Conway, you remember him, he's a longtime Republican turned Democrat and ex-husband of Trump's 2016 campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway.

To South Carolina now, CNN can now project a winner in the Republican governor's runoff. State Attorney General Alan Wilson will be defeating Lt. Gov. Pamela Evett, who gained the first endorsement from President Donald Trump.

The President also endorsed Wilson, though. In fact, last week, he said, you can't go wrong with backing both candidates. CNN's chief U.S. national affairs correspondent, Jeff Zeleny, is reporting from New York.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF U.S. NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: A remarkable primary night in New York for Mayor Zohran Mamdani, performing a clean sweep of all the competitive congressional races here in New York. Two Democratic incumbent members of Congress falling to defeat by leftist candidates backed by Mayor Mamdani.

Now, this is just six months after him taking office, making the decision to inject himself into these races, and it clearly paid off. A seismic primary day in New York, without question.

Also, a Kennedy family member, Jack Schlossberg, the grandson of President John F. Kennedy, falling to defeat a distant third place in a separate congressional primary to fill the seat of longtime Congressman Jerry Nadler. But he said Democrats should take lessons from this race.

JACK SCHLOSSBERG, FORMER NEW YORK DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: We need to do things differently, we don't just need younger candidates, we need different leaders, we need different voices, we need different instincts and different styles.

ZELENY: Now, supporters of Schlossberg gathered here in midtown Manhattan. They clearly were not expecting someone with his family name and his strength to fall so considerably. But there's no doubt that this is an anti-establishment moment in this Democratic party.

A bigger question going forward is, Mayor Mamdani clearly got his candidates across the finish line.

What does that mean for Hakeem Jeffries? He's, of course, the Democratic House leader.

If Democrats win control of Congress in November, he could be the House speaker. Clearly the leftist candidates here will impact the makeup of that. But for all of the discussions of this primary, it has very little to do with the outcome of the midterm elections in November, because in deep blue New York, these seats are almost sure to be Democratic.

But what it does do is send a clear message that the Democratic socialists are alive and well, at least in blue cities, in Democratic primaries.

Jeff Zeleny, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: Joining me now is Nick Reisman. He is the Albany bureau chief at Politico. Nick, thank you so much for joining us.

NICK REISMAN, ALBANY BUREAU CHIEF, POLITICO: Thanks for having me.

[03:05:02]

SANDOVAL: So let's begin with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. What appears to be now his sweep from Tuesday night, the candidates that he backed winning all their primaries. What is the statement you think that he's delivering to Democrats, not just across the country, but also other lawmakers on Capitol Hill?

REISMAN: Yes, I mean, this is a massive victory for Mayor Zohran Mamdani. I mean, he put a lot of political capital on the line by backing these insurgent candidates who are all going up against either incumbent Democrats or people who are backed by incumbents and ultimately he was successful here.

I mean, this is a symbol and a sign that he's really trying to remake the Democratic Party, at least in New York for the time being, very much in his image. You know, the Democratic Socialists of America really had their biggest win last year with his shocking election victory a year ago and now we're seeing him be able to replicate that at the House of Representatives level here.

I was just talking to a political operative in New York who said this is really a sign that he has some serious coattails in New York politics. And a big question is going to be is whether he can even replicate something like this nationally. I mean, this is a real symbol and a sign, again, that he has been able to build up a power base here in New York and he now is going to have some allies that he's seeding in Washington.

SANDOVAL: Yes. And it's interesting because I'm also curious if that comes with a political price. Obviously, he put, as you mentioned, a lot of political capital here. But ultimately, do you think that he's also sort of earning some enemies along the way, even within his own party?

REISMAN: Well, clearly, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, this is not what he wanted this evening, even though he is actually quite conciliatory when he was asked about all of these incumbents. But the big question is going to be is how these new of expected House members, because these are very deep blue seats, how they're ultimately going to be working in Washington.

Will they be reliable votes for Hakeem Jeffries? Will they support him to remain the Democratic leader, much less the House speaker, if it actually comes to something like that?

So there are a lot of question marks here for somebody like Hakeem Jeffries going forward. At the same time, Congressman Adriano Espaillat, who went down in defeat this evening, is a top ally for Governor Kathy Hochul, and so she cannot be too happy that Espaillat lost his election as well.

SANDOVAL: Yes, 10 years in office than he was. And then I'm also curious about just the Mamdani brand of politics. I remember having these conversations when he was first elected, really asking if that kind of brand of politics would play well in other parts of the country, more middle of the road political territory.

I mean, clearly it would work in some of the more progressive strongholds, right? But do you see it, perhaps, voters in other parts of the U.S. for this brand of politics being, for them being open to supporting it?

REISMAN: Well, both parties right now are pretty polarized, right? I mean, you've got on the Republican side where Donald Trump, the President, is trying to remake the GOP in his image. And now we're seeing progressive left-wing candidates on the Democratic side also gain some traction.

Look no further than Graham Platner in Maine, where voters are willing to look back, look aside to some of his political baggage and support him in a pretty important U.S. Senate race. So, yes, there is a desire and a hunger out there for candidates who are now a little bit further to the left, a little bit further to the right, especially anyone who's espousing this economic populism right now. And that's a major sea change that we're seeing in this nation's politics right now.

SANDOVAL: How did Mayor McDonough manage to seize on this apparent buckling of incumbency power? You know, we saw him endorse candidates running against two seasoned legislators. We were just talking about one of them, mainly those in Districts 10 and 13 in New York.

REISMAN: Right. I mean, one thing that the DSA in particular has been able to do is they have a very sophisticated voter turnout operation at this point, and that's something that they never really truly had before, except in the last couple of years. And look no further than Mamdani's own victory, which relied on a very sophisticated voter turnout model.

And we're seeing that now play out at the House level. So this is not so much just persuading people, it's finding these new voters and getting them to turn out. And this is a pretty major moment for the Democratic establishment here, that if they cannot contest something like that is really going to be a major problem for them going forward and they're going to have to knit together a very different coalition than the one they have right now.

SANDOVAL: That is quite the wake up message for Democrats nationally, for sure. Nick Reisman, as always, thank you so much for all your reporting and for joining us. I appreciate your time.

REISMAN: Thanks for having me. Thank you.

[03:10:07] SANDOVAL: President Trump's top diplomat is in the Middle East right now, hearing what Gulf allies are saying about this U.S.-Iran agreement. Right now, Secretary of State Marco Rubio is in Abu Dhabi. He'll then travel to Kuwait and Bahrain.

And this is the very latest round of negotiations-- all of this is happening as the very latest round of negotiations between Israel and Lebanon are taking place back in Washington, D.C.

Although Tehran insists that the issue are that those issues and those negotiations are linked to negotiations with Iran, Rubio says that the Lebanon talks are completely separate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCO RUBIO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: It's separate because Lebanon is a sovereign country. Now, there's an Iranian issue with regards to Lebanon, and that is their support and sponsorship of Hezbollah and so that factor will be discussed as part of our conversations with the Iranians. But as far as the future of Lebanon, the future of Lebanon belongs to the Lebanese people, to their sovereign elected government.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDVAL: We're also hearing conflicting statements about the U.S.-Iran agreement. Despite Tehran's denial, President Trump is claiming that Iran has agreed to new nuclear inspections.

Let's go now to CNN's Eleni Giokos, joining me live from Abu Dhabi. Eleni, how does the U.S.'s top diplomat go about essentially calling the concerns of its Gulf partners when it comes to not only this memorandum of understanding, but what many hope will be an eventual agreement?

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and it's such a good question because he's framing it as he is here to listen as opposed to talking. He wants to get a sense from allies here what their views are of the current framework or the memorandum of understanding that's opened the 60-day window for talks and negotiations.

And what is not included in the memorandum of understanding is essentially Iran's missile program, which, of course, is a long-term security threat and issue for allies here in the region because of what the entire region endured for the last few months. He's in the UAE, he's going to be heading to Kuwait and Bahrain, he's also going to be meeting with the Gulf Cooperation Council and, importantly, try and find a way forward.

The other sort of big issue is this deviation in messaging from the United States and Iran.

Iran says they never committed to further nuclear inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency. And also Iran's President Massoud Pezeshkian has been very clear that the missile program is not included in the MOU. And he says it will never be included because they view it as a mechanism for self-defense. Another thing that experts have been raising is the $300 billion

reconstruction fund set for Iran. There's concern that Iran could use some of those funds to rebuild their missile program and then, importantly, fund proxies across the region.

So, we wait to see the outcomes of his visit. But importantly, they are framing it as how they're going to be sort of focusing on the feedback more than anything.

SANDOVAL: And Eleni, before we let you go, just what is the latest on the Strait of Hormuz and, of course, the established navigation there and this operation to evacuate thousands of seafarers who've been stranded there since the start of the conflict?

GIOKOS: Well, so the U.N. Maritime Organization says that they're going to now start evacuating 11,000 seafarers that are trapped in the Persian Gulf. And importantly, this has also been one of the big issues that are facing shippers and the humanitarian crisis that has sort of evolved in terms of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, traffic has been increasing.

And Kpler, I spoke with them just a short time ago that they sort of look at maritime traffic. 42 came through on Monday, 31 vessels yesterday, and importantly, we had 71 vessels over the weekend.

So there's an incremental increase, but definitely not where it should be. And then importantly, I'm looking at what's happening in Qatar.

And you'll remember, Qatar accounts for 20 percent of global LNG. They say, according to an interview with "Financial Times," that they will be increasing their LNG production in the next few weeks if it is safe to do so.

So we're monitoring this on all fronts because it has global ramifications at this point because the closure of the Strait of Hormuz has impacted everyone around the world.

Oil prices, of course, have gotten out of hand. They're dipping slightly now, but it really depends on what happens in the Strait.

SAMDOVAL: And in terms of impact, I mean, it doesn't get any more front and center than those 11,000 people who have been stuck on the Strait since the start of this conflict. Eleni, thank you so much for bringing us up to speed on it all, on everything.

And straight ahead here on "CNN Newsroom," Scottish fans, they are having the time of their lives at the World Cup and almost it's their first World Cup in almost three decades. So you can imagine they're awfully excited and awfully thirsty.

CNN catching up with some of the Tartan army as they took over a baseball stadium. Be right back.

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GIANNI INFANTINO, FIFA PRESIDENT: We will be together with the President, enjoying the final and handing the trophy to the winner, of course, together.

LAWRENCE JONES, "FOX AND FRIENDS" HOST: Together you'll be doing it?

INFANTINO: Of course, we are together all the time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: That was FIFA President Gianni Infantino confirming plans to include U.S. President Donald Trump in this year's trophy presentation at the World Cup final. That match will be held in New Jersey on July 19th.

Now, while FIFA's President is usually the one giving the winners their trophy, heads of state have presented the prize in the past. President Trump has yet to attend a World Cup match in this tournament, though.

And if four daily matches aren't enough, starting on Wednesday, a group stages will be holding six games per day in the lead up to the knockout rounds.

[03:20:01]

Some of the most highly anticipated games include Scotland's showdown against Brazil that going down in Miami, that's followed by Mexico playing on home soil against Czechia.

For now, teams remain laser focused on solidifying their current rankings. Earlier, in fact, Colombia won their match against the Democratic Republic of Congo 1-0 in a critical game for Group K.

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And there was plenty more action on Tuesday. Ghana held England to a 0-0 draw in Boston, a missed header late in the game, giving English striker Harry Kane a chance to score, but then he kicked the rebound, shot high and out of play.

Meanwhile, in Houston, Portugal steamrolled Uzbekistan despite a slow start to the tournament. Superstar Cristiano Ronaldo getting hot in this one, scoring two goals in Portugal's 5-0 blowout.

Ronaldo now scoring a goal in six separate World Cups. And that, my friends, is a new FIFA record. Listen to how excited fans of Portugal are.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BRENDA SILVA, PORTUGAL FAN: I'm so proud of him because he's like such an example to the young kids. And I see it every day with a little with the kids, like how they look up to him.

AAMNA KHALID, PORTUGAL FAN: This was the best day of my life, I'm so happy I got to see Ronaldo score two goals. I've waited so long to see this in real life. And I think the whole team works so well together, Portugal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: And you think they're excited. This World Cup actually marks the first time that Scotland has qualified in almost 30 years. And Scottish fans known as the Tartan Army, they are having a blast here in the United States, even enjoying America's favorite pastime.

CNN's Randi Kaye caught up with some of them.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If you're looking for the Scottish World Cup fans, they're not hard to find.

UNKNOWN: We love to party with any sport event. We love to drink. We love to party.

KAYE: Is the stadium going to run out of beer tonight?

UNKNOWN: Yes, absolutely. We need to phone up Scotland and say, can you send more beer? Because we're going to drink it all tonight.

KAYE: Scotland hasn't been to the World Cup in nearly three decades. So the soccer fans who came here to the U.S. for the games are certainly making the most of it. But it's not just soccer that has them cheering, it's baseball.

UNKNOWN: We love baseball. We know the one song we've got, it goes like this. And that's all we really know.

KAYE (voice-over): Scottish fans call themselves the Tartan Army. In between World Cup matches, they've been taking over stadiums in host cities. In Miami, the Marlins team dubbed Monday night's game the Tartan Takeover after about 8000 tickets were purchased by Scottish fans.

UNKNOWN: We are here to see Scotland play Brazil. So we thought we would just come and see the baseball and support the fighting fish.

KAYE: What do you think makes the Scottish fans so unique?

UNKNOWN: Well, no one else wears kilts. We have lots of fabulous songs.

KAYE (voice-over): And where the Scots go, the party follows.

KAYE: Many of these Scottish fans have never attended a U.S. baseball game, but that doesn't seem to be getting in the way of that.

UNKNOWN: He throws up and he hits it as far as he can. Is there more than that?

KAYE: Can you explain the rules of the game to me here?

UNKNOWN: As a Scottish man, I would say there's a man throwing a ball at another man who's trying to hit it out of the park and nine times out of ten he misses.

KAYE: Do you think they should just use a bigger ball out here? Would that make more sense to you?

UNKNOWN: I would say a bigger ball or a bigger bat.

KAYE (voice-over): The Marlins lost to the Texas Rangers 4-3, but that didn't dampen the Tartan Army's spirits.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: Joining us now is Hamish Husband. He's a veteran member and spokesperson for the West of Scotland Tartan Army.

Hamish, it's wonderful to have you with us. Thank you so much for joining us. So are you ready for tonight's game?

HAMISH HUSBAND, VETERAN MEMBER AND SPOKESPERSON, WEST OF SCOTLAND TARTAN ARMY: Well, tonight's going to be very important for us and strangely for us, and we are used to failure. What we're looking for in the match against Brazil is either a victory, which is highly unusual, or a draw, which would be amazing, or a 1-0 defeat.

And for those watching at the end of the game, if we do lose one, nothing will be due. It will be party time. Very strange.

SANDOVAL: Tell our viewers around the world about the Tartan Army, the spirit, the energy, the wave of this Scottish pride that's not just leaving its mark, but also even leaving contributions where it goes.

[03:25:00]

HUSBAND: Well, I'm an old guy and my first Scotland game was in 1966. And in those days, and it started in 1928, we had an annual game against England at Wembley and we had the Wembley clubs. And then this kind of changed in 1998 when we played the opening game against Brazil at the World Cup.

And that's when the modern Tartan Armies just grew and grew and it was based around bars and we have travelled around Europe. And I would humbly suggest strongly that we are the most famous fans in Europe.

And we're not only football fans, soccer fans. We are actually, we believe, the first international charity in the world.

And it's the Tartan Army Sunshine Appeal. And when we made a donation in Boston last week, it was at 112, and from 2003 to now, we have donated over 350,000 pounds.

SANDOVAL: As you mentioned, Scotland's team, it needs at least to draw against Brazil to secure the next round. We also heard from coach Steve Clarke recently. He said that he grew up with a love for Brazil.

I mean, why wouldn't you? It's such an iconic team. But come tonight's game, he will be loving Scotland even more. I wonder just how memorable a moment do you expect during the game? Just seeing your team share the pitch with Brazil.

HUSBAND: Actually, our first match against Brazil was in 1966 before they made it to the World Cup in England. And the big connection with Brazil was in 1982, we played them in the World Cup in Spain. And although the beat is 4-1, there was this amazing bond that seemed to emerge between this massive country, the most major country for soccer, for football, and this tiny nation of 5.5 million people.

We've had this affinity with Brazil for decades now. I'm not sure if the Brazilians really understand and reciprocate it, but it's quite amazing that we feel this empathy towards Brazil.

Now, if you take Brazil and Argentina, they are the major soccer countries in the world. And I just feel that tomorrow night, we will be equal partners until the game starts, that is.

SANDOVAL: You've attended some matches now, as you point out, for decades. What makes this particular World Cup tournament so unique based on your experience? What makes it so special for the Brazilians attending these matches?

HUSBAND: Well, the background is that two years ago, we played in the European Championships, and 200,000 Scots from a population of 5.5 million went to Germany. And we lit up the tournament when we qualified in November on a dramatic night at our national stadium.

I wasn't for coming, I thought, because we get so much negative news about the USA. And then I went home after the match and my wife said, here's a glass of champagne, I take it you're going to America, you're a man of no principles.

Of course, I was going to the USA. But there was a bit of trepidation, because you have to understand back in the U.K., back in Scotland, so much negativity about this USA, this magnificent country of yours. And so when I set off from Glasgow, it seems, weeks ago, and I landed in Boston.

And when we landed, the locals were saying, why are you all here? Why are you wearing kilts? Is there a conference on? And what took us viral wasn't so much a game against Haiti, which we won, was the Boston Red Sox, where, I don't know if there was 10,000 of us there.

I made a fan match in the stadium led by the bagpipes. And suddenly we were embraced not only by Boston, but the USA and the world. Because I've done interviews with Brazilian T.V. and Australian T.V.

They don't want to know about our soccer players. They just want to know about us, where we came from. Where is this?

And what I would say is, what they want to know is, what is the Tartan Army about? Because you've got the Dutch fans with their orange and they do this daft dance and the Norwegian fans are doing the rowing.

But that's all pre-planned. We are spontaneous. We just come and have a good time.

SANDOVAL: Hamish Husband, it has been an absolute pleasure getting to speak to you. And a treat being able to see so many of your fellow fans, Scottish fans in the United States.

If they win tonight, we certainly hope that Miami bars will be able to keep up because we know that some of those folks up in Boston certainly struggle to keep up with the celebration. But it was wonderful to see everybody having such a great time.

Hamish Husband, thank you so much for your time again. And enjoy the game.

HUSBAND: They're running out of beer already. They're running out of beer already in Miami.

SANDOVAL: Enjoy the game. Thanks again.

HUSBAND: And if they get to the final, what are they going to do? If they get to the final, we're coming.

SANDOVAL: Yes, we'll have to see if our Irish friends can perhaps provide some backup. Thank you so much again for your time.

HUSBAND: Nice to speak to you.

[03:30:10]

SANDOVAL: Well, temperatures are soaring in France and throughout much of Europe, where some homes are even designed to retain heat, as we heard in the last hour. We'll tell you what people there are having to do to stay cool.

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[03:35:00]

SANDOVAL: And thank you so much for staying with us. I'm Polo Sandoval in New York, and these are today's top stories.

It was a night of victories for New York congressional candidates who were backed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. All three Democrats, they were backed by the Democratic Socialists. They are projected to win primaries in their districts. They include former city comptroller Brad Lander in the 10th district, who lost to Mamdani in the mayor's race.

And the U.S. Senate has adopted a resolution directing President Trump to remove military forces from the conflict with Iran. Four Republicans joining Democrats in voting for that resolution, Democratic Senator John Fetterman voted against it. All of this as President Trump insists that Americans would support his plan to ask for another $80 billion to cover the costs of the war with Iran.

The relentless and deadly heat wave is tightening its grip across Europe. Temperatures, already the records there, they are expected to be shattered this week. Heat alerts, they were in effect for 23 countries on Tuesday. France recording the hottest day on record and Wednesday could be even hotter, the extreme heat is being driven by a heat dome, which is a high pressure system that traps hot air.

Well, France is at the epicenter of that extreme weather. CNN's Melissa Bell has more on how people there and across other parts of Europe are trying to cope with the heat.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's already proving a devastating heat wave. With firefighters battling wildfires in Greece and in France and temperature records being shattered across Europe, like in Cognac in southwestern France, where they rose above 106 degrees on Monday.

It's the second heat wave in Europe in as many months, with schools closing like here in Piquiviers, where all nursery and primary schools will remain closed for the week, according to CNN's affiliate BFM TV. Trains, too, have been canceled and public services across France are under pressure as the heat turns deadly.

Beyond the heat related deaths, authorities in France say that 40 people have drowned since the extreme heat began last week. In Germany, too, people are doing all they can to stay cool with red heat alerts affecting several parts of the country. And even London is bracing for even more heat.

UNKNOWN: I find it quite unbearable, and I think it is a sign of big climate change. And I just think that London is not a city that's meant to be hot.

UNKNOWN: The weather's really hot, but ultimately it's not good for a lot of people. And I think we need to be more aware. It looks like we're all having fun here, but there's lots of people living in homes which are overheating.

BELL (voice-over): The U.K. has also issued a rare heat alert and closed some of its schools.

UNKNOWN: I mean, there's only so much that can be done, especially if schools haven't got the funding to, you know, to cover the cost of adaptation.

UNKNOWN: I do feel a lot more hot, and it's harder to go to the park and have a nice time outside.

BELL (voice-over): Few European homes are equipped with air conditioning, making heat waves even more dangerous. In Paris, parks normally closed in the evening were left open to allow Parisians some respite, as Monday into Tuesday proved the hottest night on record. Also, a better place to watch France's World Cup match against Iraq than stifling apartments.

UNKNOWN (through translator): The park also offers some privacy for sleeping, and I think it's quieter. So I think it should stay open like this all year round for homeless people as well.

UNKNOWN (through translator): And today, I think it's a reality that we can no longer deny, even on an individual level. Like when we come to a park at 11 p.m. to find a bit of cool air. The fact is global warming is very much here.

BELL (voice-over): People are being urged to stay out of the sun, to stay cool and to stay hydrated, as Europeans brave one of the worst heat waves on record.

Melissa Bell, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDAOVAL: And extreme heat is often called a silent killer. Yes, because it lacks the visible destruction of a hurricane, flood or wildfire. But it is the deadliest type of extreme weather. CNN's Laura Paddison has more on how extreme heat impacts the human body.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAURA PADDISON, CNN SENIOR CLIMATE WRITER: Everything that's going on in my body made that hard.

We're here at the University of South Wales in the U.K., and behind me here is an environmental chamber where scientists can control the temperature. And they're going to pipe the temperatures up to about 40 degrees Celsius, 104 degrees Fahrenheit. And the whole point of this exercise is to see what impact extreme heat has on my body.

This on my head is measuring brain blood flow. Here is measuring skin temperature on my leg. They're going to be looking at cognitive functions, like how is my decision-making affected by the heat?

We need to understand what it's going to be like living in a much hotter world.

[03:40:03]

UNKNOWN: Okay, Laura, so you're fully instrumented. You're ready for action, ready for liftoff.

PADDISON: It's 40 degrees now, 20 percent humidity, and I can really feel it starting to sweat. My face is getting very hot. My skin temperature has gone up by a couple of degrees.

UNKNOWN: You're doing a really good job here.

PADDISON: It's 40 degrees Celsius, but it's 85 percent humidity, and the difference is intense. It's like a sauna in here.

This is really tough. Like, hands feel a bit shaky. Everything feels tiring, even breathing feels weird.

UNKNOWN: Stop. Great job.

PADDISON: Thank you.

UNKNOWN: Mission accomplished. So it's not easy. Now, you've got a markedly depressed increase in exercise-induced blood flow to the brain.

It's gone from 600 milliliters per minute to 400.

PADDISON: That's really significant.

UNKNOWN: Which is huge. You're not getting enough fuel into the brain. You're not burning enough fuel to be able to make the right decisions.

You would make potentially wrong decisions, rash decisions, and a much larger increase in pressure during exercise.

So your heart is working a lot harder, probably about 30 percent harder, just because of that increase in temperature and humidity. Older patients, you know, this is a big deal for them. And they wouldn't be able to do the simplest tasks, even stand up to get out of a chair.

From a cardiovascular perspective, that would just be too demanding.

PADDISON: What we're seeing now around the world is this really humid heat that is pushing places to the limits of survivability. We're seeing stronger heat waves, more humid weather, and the impacts on the body are pretty overwhelming.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: And we return, we'll tell you about a new trend, more Chinese brands expanding their operations overseas. Coming up, a closer look at what's driving companies to broaden their customer bases.

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[03:45:00]

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SANDOVAL: You're up to speed on your markets. Here are your latest business headlines.

Oil futures, they are lower as economists look for progress in peace talks between the U.S. and Iran. Traders are welcoming the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz after it was essentially shut down for months due to the war in the region. Analysts are saying that it could take several months for oil transiting the Strait to return to levels seen before the war.

Meta is announcing a new line of AI-powered smart glasses. The company is saying that they'll be cheaper than other models, starting at just under 300 bucks, they'll also be designed in-house, including a model by Kylie Jenner. This is a departure from Meta, which has previously collaborated with brands like Ray-Ban and Oakley for its smart glasses.

With the Chinese technology company Alibaba suing the U.S. government, the lawsuit coming after Alibaba was placed on a list of businesses from China that the Defense Department linked to the Chinese military. The e-commerce giant is seeking to be removed from said list, which it says is arbitrary and has caused irreparable harm.

Chinese companies are increasingly moving beyond their home bases and into international markets. This new trend has the potential to reshape fashion, tech and also consumer retail around the world. CNN's Hanako Montgomery explains what's fueling the wider search for new customers.

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HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: More and more Chinese companies are expanding overseas, opening more stores, collaborating with Western partners and acquiring brands.

In May, American brand Everlane, which has built its reputation on sustainability, announced it's being acquired by Chinese fast fashion giant Shein. So what's driving this global push by Chinese companies?

Professor Hewai Tang of the University of Hong Kong says there are three main reasons for this.

HEWAI TANG, PROFESSOR AND ASSOCIATE DEAN, HONG KONG UNIVERSITY BUSINESS SCHOOL: The first one is natural. You know, when the economy is growing for so many years, some of the companies become strong and productive. They feel that, you know, they have new opportunities somewhere.

The second reason is, you know, the Chinese economy has been, you know, facing a lot of challenges, especially after COVID. People said there is a deflation cycle, partly because of overcompetition among private companies.

It's actually not easy to make money in China. So many companies are trying to find profit opportunities outside of China.

The third reason, obviously, the external pressure related to geopolitical situations, tariffs and different kinds of export bans, will encourage some of the Chinese companies to set up shops and manufacturing bases in order to serve other Western markets.

MONTGOMERY: Twenty years ago, income from overseas markets made up just 3 to 4 percent of total revenue for Chinese businesses. By 2024, that same figure rose to 15 percent, according to one analysis. In fact, that combined overseas revenue at Chinese mainland-listed

firms reportedly hit a record-breaking U.S.$1.8 trillion in 2025, showing just how much Chinese companies are looking abroad in search of new consumers, higher profit margins and less saturated markets.

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SANDOVAL: Cuba's once robust tourism industry has been gutted by U.S. sanctions and oil blockade as the Trump administration tries pressuring the government on that island.

[03:50:07]

Now the sharp decline in visitors, it has pretty much wiped out a key source of revenue for Cuba's hospitality workers. CNN's Patrick Oppmann reports from Havana.

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PATIRCK OPPMANN, CNN HAVANA BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): You can look for tourists in Cuba, but good luck finding any these days. The colonial streets in Plazas and Old Havana, one of the island's main attractions for foreign visitors, are strikingly empty.

OPPMANN: Cuba's tourism sector is enduring the worst moment in years, if not decades. We've come to an area that should be absolutely full of tourists to see how bad it's gotten.

OPPMANN (voice-over): Rolando is trying to promote the restaurant where he works, but there's hardly anyone to make his pitch to.

OPPMANN: You don't see any tourists.

ROLANDO, TOURISM WORKER: Maybe-- In this moment, 10 percent.

10 percent tourist in this square, that is the best square, is Plaza Vieja. And the other square in Havana, maybe 10 percent. It's nothing.

OPPMANN (voice-over): The oil blockade placed by the Trump administration on Cuba earlier this year has contributed to rolling blackouts and a scarcity of jet fuel for airlines carrying tourists from Europe or Canada, which have canceled flights. Threats of increased U.S. economic sanctions on international hotel chains is forcing many companies to abandon the island and remove the brands of hotels they used to manage for the Cuban government.

According to official statistics, only 360,000 tourists visited the island in the first five months of 2026, a more than 58 percent drop from the previous year. The Trump administration says it is pressuring the island's communist rulers to open the tightly controlled economy and political system.

But people like Elio and Andres, who have been playing traditional Cuban music on the street corner for nearly 30 years, are among those feeling the squeeze. When we meet them, the guitar duo had earned less than a dollar in tips that day. They told me the economy has never been this bad, even during the pandemic.

There are no tourists, Elio says. Maybe they're at home. One comes by only every half hour or hour.

Even the famed Hemingway Trail, the bars where the American writer drank his way across Havana, has gone cold.

OPPMANN: This is one of the most famous bars in Havana. You can see Hemingway's signature there on the wall. This is one of the many places he drank, he said he came here for his mojito.

I've never been able to come here without there being just a crush of tourists. We're the first customers of the day. It's a tourist trap without any tourists.

OPPMANN (voice-over): For the first time, Cuban officials say they may allow Cuban exiles or Cubans still living on the island to manage hotels, but full ownership, so far at least, is still not permitted. The collapse of the tourism economy is a disaster for a government that spent years pouring scant resources into building hotels.

OPPMANN: This is not only Cuba's largest hotel. It's the tallest building on this island. This is one of the most expensive things this government here has ever built.

Architects who worked on this project told me it cost more than $200 million to build this hotel, which is now empty and closed.

OPPMANN (voice-over): Still, construction continues on even more hotels that are unlikely to see paying customers anytime soon.

Cubans who work in tourism are trying anything to make ends meet. Alexander tells us he lowered prices to take a carriage ride with his horse, Napoleon, so that Cubans could afford a city tour. He still barely makes enough money to pay for his government license to work as a guide.

More reforms urgently need to take place, he says.

ALEXANDER, TOURIST WORKER: If we don't change our system, if we don't change our economic model, we'll never survive like a human being.

Every day, daily, there are problems and problems. And if we don't solve, if we don't change those things, we will never have a real future.

OPPMANN (voice-over): Cuba's tourism industry has already collapsed under increased U.S. pressure. Now the fear is the rest of the island's teetering economy could soon follow.

Patrick Oppmann, CNN, Havana.

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SANDOVAL: There's a new music festival that's launching with a mission to celebrate and support women and girls, and it's being led by Grammy-winning artist Olivia Rodrigo. In an interview with ABC, Rodrigo said that her inspiration to launch the Daisy Chainfields event in August, it comes from Lilith Fair, which is the economic festival, the iconic festival, I should say, that was founded by Sarah MacLachlan back in the 1990s.

So the lineup includes an all-star cast of female musicians, of course, MacLachlan on there, as well as Stevie Nicks that you see there.

[03:55:05]

Organizers say that proceeds from Rodrigo's event will go towards non- profit groups focused on supporting women and girls.

There's a new team of New Zealanders. They have thrown themselves into a 2000-year-old Chinese tradition. Have a look.

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How's that for a turn? They traveled to southern China to take part in a drifting dragon boat race. The race is all part of a dragon boat festival which takes place in cities across China.

And we do want to leave you with those pictures as we thank you for joining me the last hour. I'm Polo Sandoval in New York, I'll join you again in a moment with more of your headlines.

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