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CNN Provides Update on Deadly Thailand School Shooting; Trump Grows Angry Over Reports on Depleted Munitions, Believing It Weakens Him in Iran Negotiations; Rebuilding Amid Renewed Israeli Airstrikes in Lebanon; Up to 5,000 Migrants Remain in Ceuta; ew Details Emerge In Scottish Aid Worker's Killing In Greece; 3 Teachers, 3 Students Dead In Thailand School Shooting; U.S. Senate Panel Recommends Contempt Charges For Dr. Fauci; FAA Orders Hundreds Of 737 Max Jets Inspected For Cracks. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired August 07, 2026 - 02:00   ET

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

[02:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNKNOWN (voice-over): This is "CNN Breaking News."

BEN HUNTE, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Welcome to CNN. I'm Ben Hunte. We begin this hour with breaking news of a deadly school shooting just north of Bangkok, Thailand. The Royal Thai Police say six people were killed, three teachers and three students. We bring you live pictures there. Fifteen people were wounded, two of them critically. Authorities say a student opened fire at a secondary school. Thailand's Central Investigation Bureau told CNN that the situation is now under control.

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HUNTE: That is the moment the students inside the school were taking shelter under their desks while gunshots can be heard in the background.

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HUNTE: CNN's Kristie Lu Stout is covering developments for us from Hong Kong and joins us live. Good to see you, Kristie, even under these circumstances. What more have you learned about this school shooting in Thailand?

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Ben, a terrifying outburst of violence has targeted students and teachers in Thailand. Earlier today, a student opened fire at a school located just north of Bangkok. And according to Thai police, there are multiple fatalities. Six people are dead, including three students and three teachers. Fifteen wounded, two critically. We also learned that the suspected gunman is alive. And according to Thai police, they say that the situation -- quote -- "is under control." You're looking at video of the aftermath of the scenes outside the school after the shooting. We know that emergency workers, Thai police, members of the community gathered there. We also saw video. An image there, that's a teacher on a stretcher and an ambulance, one of the casualties in this outburst of violence.

I want to show you in this next video scenes of evacuation. In this video, you see students from the school, boys and girls, rushing to exit the halls of their school amidst this school shooting. Absolutely chilling to watch. This is a high school, junior and senior students. These are boys and girls rushing to leave.

And we also have a new photo to share with you. This is from Thai police. It's a chilling image of the gun that is believed to have been used in the shooting. You see it there on your screen. This was an image provided to CNN by Thai police. It's a handgun, as you can see there, along with several rounds of ammunition just scattered there on the floor.

Now, this next video is very disturbing to watch alongside everything we've been collecting and sharing with you this day. In this video, you will see the students sheltering in place, and they are cowering under their desks amid a live school shooting. You can hear the gunfire and you can also hear the whimpering of the students. Let's just pause, take a beat, watch and listen.

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(CRYING)

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LU STOUT: We are learning more about this school. This is the Debsirin Nonthaburi School located just outside Bangkok. It's on a busy highway. Student population of about 3,000 students. It's part of a well-known and famous wider network of public schools. And school shootings, mass shootings like this are rare in Thailand.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

But Thailand, compared to its other neighbors in Southeast Asia, has very high rates of gun ownership. In fact, according to a 2017 survey, we learned some 10 million civilians in Thailand have access to handguns, to firearms. That's about, what, 15 guns for every 100 people. And earlier this year, there was a deadly shooting at a school in southern Thailand. One teacher was killed. A student was wounded.

But in this latest shooting, there are a number of fatalities, six in total. Three teachers are dead, three students are dead from a school shooting that took place earlier today, Friday, just outside Bangkok. We will continue to monitor the situation for you. Ben?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTE: Can you tell us a bit more about how the community is now reacting to this horrific act of violence?

LU STOUT: Yes. We have been having our crew on the ground in Bangkok and also monitoring social media just to see how the community is trying to cope with this senseless act of violence that is taking hold here. There was one comment that I noticed, our team noticed, it was on Facebook saying this -- quote -- "I just passed by the school. I saw people running around a chaotic mess. What is going on?"

[02:05:00]

We know that local NGOs, nonprofit organizations, they have been mobilizing, in addition to the Thai police force and emergency workers. One group called the Poh Teck Tung Foundation, they immediately sent a team of volunteers to the school to provide first aid, to provide CPR, to provide an assistance, and also vehicles to rush the injured, to rush the wounded to hospital. So, another example there of just a community coming together, neighbors helping neighbors in the wake of such horrific violence. Ben?

HUNTE: All right. Kristie, thank you for that. Please bring us the latest as you do get it. Thank you.

President Trump is complaining behind closed doors about public disclosures that U.S. munitions are dwindling after months of war with Iran. He says it makes the U.S. look weak as he seeks to project some strength. CNN reported this week the military has burned through nearly 80 percent of its FAD missile inventory compared to pre-war numbers and roughly half of its Patriot interceptors since the start of the war. But President Trump says he is not worried.

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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We have certain types of munitions that are very powerful, that we have unlimited, virtual unlimited supply. We have others where it's a little bit tighter. We have certain types of munitions, which are very -- they may not be as accurate. They may not be -- you know, they're not as elite. We have elite two, but we're watching that very closely. But we have certain types, which are very powerful and very good, and we have an unlimited supply. And so, we're in great shape.

But with that being said, we always want more. We have to have more. We have other things maybe come up -- maybe come up and maybe don't come up. Hopefully, nothing else does come up. But we're in very good shape. We have literally massive amounts of ammunition.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTE: Washington and Tehran are giving sharply conflicting accounts of whether talks to reopen the Strait of Hormuz were actually taking place. And amid the uncertainty, Iran's top negotiator is criticizing President Trump. Iran's parliament speaker on social media says -- quote -- "Massive attack coming. Wait, never mind, they want to negotiate. That is theater diplomacy on loop," he writes, referring to Mr. Trump's statements in recent weeks. Meanwhile, Iran-backed groups are reportedly ramping up efforts to target U.S. partners in the Gulf region. Saudi Arabia is bracing for attacks by Houthis in Yemen and Iraqi militias under the guidance of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Joining me now from Riyadh is Gregg Carlstrom, Middle East correspondent for "The Economist." Good to see you, sir. President Trump is now acknowledging that some U.S. weapons are tighter, while insisting that America has plenty of other tools to use. Does all of this change Iran's plans at all?

GREGG CARLSTROM, MIDDLE EAST CORRESPONDENT, THE ECONOMIST: I think even before the war started, people anticipated that the U.S. would get to this point. I mean, there are two particular categories of munitions that seemed to be running down. One is air defense interceptors, the things that America uses to shoot down Iranian missiles.

We've seen over the past few weeks evidence that those stockpiles are running down because it seems as if in Jordan, Bahrain, Kuwait, places around the region where American bases have been attacked, the U.S. is not trying now to shoot down every Iranian missile. They're letting some of them through if they're not expected to cause serious damage or loss of life, which is obviously a way to husband scarce supplies of interceptors. So, no doubt the Iranians know this, and they're aware that they can now get more missiles through America's air defenses.

The other thing that's running down is what's often called standoff munitions. These are missiles that you fire, not drop directly overhead from a jet, but you fire them from a distance from outside Iran's airspace if you're carrying out a strike in Iran. It seems as if the U.S. has been using more of those because it doesn't want to take the risk of flying fighter jets or bombers directly into Iranian territory, which suggests that the U.S. is still somewhat risk-averse in how it's prosecuting this war.

Trump is right that there's still a large stockpile of more conventional bombs that you drop from Iranian territory, but it seems as if they don't want to use those because, again, they don't want to fly through Iranian airspace despite their claims for months now that Iran's air defenses have been knocked out.

HUNTE: Now, help me out with this one because the public messaging couldn't be more different. President Trump says that talks are progressing, but Tehran says there are no direct talks. So, what's actually happening here?

[02:09:58]

CARLSTROM: Right, it has been another one of these weeks where we've been hearing since Sunday that a deal is supposedly imminent, and here we are on Friday and there still hasn't been a deal.

The talks that are taking place, they're not between the U.S. and Iran right now. They are between Oman, the Persian Gulf state of Oman and the Iranians. Oman is the one that is trying to push a compromise arrangement around traffic in the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran hasn't agreed to that yet. Why haven't they agreed? I mean, there are two schools of thought. There's an argument coming from some people in Tehran that the regime just wants to drag this out. They're happy to keep the Strait of Hormuz closed for a while because they think that will add further pressure on the U.S. to make concessions elsewhere, to lift its naval blockade, to lift sanctions on Iranian oil exports.

The problem with that theory, I think, is it's not really working yet. If you look at where oil prices are, they're in the low 80s. That's higher than before the war, but it's not catastrophic. And so, that oil price, the main tool that Iran has for putting pressure on Donald Trump, it's not putting enough pressure on him yet. And so, I tend to believe the other argument around why there hasn't been a deal yet, which is that there is still disagreement in Iran over a possible deal.

We've heard the foreign minister, other mediators, endorse this Omani compromise proposal around Hormuz, but the Revolutionary Guard, which is the key decision-maker in Tehran, hasn't agreed to it yet. We haven't heard anything from the supreme leader. So, I think there is some disagreement within the regime over whether to accept this deal or whether to go back and demand additional concessions.

HUNTE: Can you tell us a bit more about that very critical strait, the Strait of Hormuz, and what that potential deal could include, what some of the restrictions we're hearing about?

CARLSTROM: Before the war, ships going through the strait mostly went through the center of it. It was Omani territorial waters in the middle of the Strait of Hormuz. That's where the water is deepest. And so, it's easiest for tankers and other big ships to navigate.

What's being discussed now are essentially new lanes, new routes through the strait. So, you would have an inbound lane, which goes west into the Persian Gulf. That would go through Iran's territorial waters. And so, Iran would effectively have some veto power over what ships were able to use it. And then the outbound lane going east into the Indian Ocean, that would go through Omani territory. So, they would essentially divide up control over the strait.

For the moment, it doesn't seem that Iran is going to insist on tolls. That's not part of the agreement. There wouldn't be mandatory tolls for ships going through the strait. So, at least, the negotiators seem to be a bit flexible on that point. But they are insisting that at least the inbound lane goes through their territory, which would give them the ability to say which ships were allowed to enter and which ships were not.

HUNTE: OK. We'll leave it there for now. Gregg Carlstrom, awesome insight. Thank you so much for that. I appreciate it.

CARLSTROM: Thank you.

HUNTE: The U.S. State Department says a third round of peace talks between Israel and Lebanon was -- quote -- "productive." The U.S. says the two sides are now a lot closer on next steps to expand the so- called pilot zone process, which calls for Israeli forces to withdraw from Southern Lebanon and give control of the area to Lebanon's military.

The talks come as the Israeli military has now ramped up strikes on Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon over the past few days. That includes new airstrikes on Thursday. Israel has accused Hezbollah of violating a ceasefire deal.

Meanwhile, Lebanon's prime minister also held parallel talks with the British government on efforts to stop the fighting in the region. CNN's Nada Bashir reports on how the renewed hostilities are affecting civilians as they try to rebuild their lives amid all of this ongoing conflict.

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NADA BASHIR, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Clearing the debris of a home now turned to rubble, the result of a months-long Israeli military assault on Southern Lebanon.

When the shelling started, my family fled, Abu Ali (ph) says. And when I returned, everything was destroyed.

His family fled the village of Zawtar, which overlooks the Litani River, in February, and have only now been able to return following the withdrawal of Israeli forces. Inside is what remains of their home. The remnants of this war lay scattered. Israeli bullets, he tells us. Walls completely blown out. Bullet holes above where his grandchildren once slept.

We want calm, we want security, we want a state, he says. We want to be protected by the military. We don't want to fight. But if Israel attacks us, we will attack them.

Abu Ali (ph) is far from alone, among the more than a million people displaced from their homes by the war in Lebanon.

[02:15:02]

Nisam Hashem (ph) says he and his family of four returned to their village as soon as the military gave them the all-clear after months spent sheltering in a school in Beirut.

Take a look at this scene, the destruction. The Israelis were sleeping here in this room, Nisam (ph) says. They even left behind their food and water.

Through shattered glass and concrete, Nisam (ph) takes us to what was his children's bedroom. Out in the distance, he says, Israeli tanks are still positioned.

You can see them right in front of us, just a few hundred meters away, he says. Across Zawtar, the scars of this deadly conflict remain. Homes left crumbling. Neighborhoods deserted. This monastery, now bullet-ridden and desecrated.

The scale of the destruction here is reflected across Southern Lebanon, and the recovery process could take years. While members of this community work to rebuild homes and restore critical infrastructure, some wounds are more difficult to heal. Many have lost their livelihoods.

Most of the residents here depend on agriculture. There was a harvest season right before the war started. People fled and left it behind, Abdel Ezzeddine, the mayor of West Zawtar says. I believe there is a big percentage of farms that are not fit for farming anymore due to shelling and airstrikes.

For many, this is not the first time they have been forced to flee their homes nor the first time they have returned to find utter destruction. Locals here know just how fragile a ceasefire can be and how quickly everything can change. And while some say they are putting their trust in the Lebanese army to protect them, others say they remain faithful in their support for another military force, Hezbollah. The Iran-backed political and military group has long dominated in the south.

I'm proud that my husband, a fighter who defended his land, was martyred in his village, Israr Sour (ph), a mother and now widow, tells us. She and her children fled the border village of Tair Harfa in October 2023. Their community coming under intense Israeli bombardment after Hezbollah launched a series of attacks on Israel in solidarity with the people of Gaza.

War with Israel, she says, has impacted generations of her family. No stranger to Israeli occupations of the past. They killed my grandfather. My father was a prisoner of war, she says. All my uncles were tortured. My entire village suffered. Now, Israr (ph) says she is determined to carry on the struggle. Eventually, we will return to our village. And if we don't, then our children will return. And if they don't, our grandchildren will.

Nada Bashir, CNN, in London.

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HUNTE: In a rare move, prosecutors have charged an Israeli settler with reckless manslaughter. It was for the killing of a Palestinian activist last year. Odeh Hathalin was a prominent voice speaking out against settler violence. He was involved in the Oscar-winning film "No Other Land." He was also a father of three. This is video from his altercation with Israeli settler Yinon Levi. He was later seen firing a single shot.

According to an Israeli human rights group, this marks the first time since the October 7th terror attacks that an Israeli has been indicted for killing a Palestinian in the West Bank. Relentless heat and drought are punishing Europe's most vital rivers. The Danube has fallen to record lows, and that's causing an energy crisis in Hungary. It is forcing a nuclear power plant that supplies nearly half of the country with electricity to operate at roughly 10 percent of capacity. The Rhine River is also at a critical low. It's a key artery for everything, from food and minerals to coal and oil. Ships have reduced their loads by up to 80 percent to avoid running aground. That is disrupting supply chains and raising shipping costs, too.

Prosecutors in Washington State say a man has admitted to starting one of the three devastating fires that crews continue to battle near Spokane. Court documents show Aaron Farinacci confessed to setting more than two dozen fires since last year. He's currently facing five counts of first-degree arson.

Meanwhile, crews fighting the fires in Washington are preparing for conditions to worsen as strong winds and soaring temperatures are expected to arrive in the coming hours. Fire alerts have been issued for many western states.

The worst may be over, but the fallout from a migrant crisis still lingers in the Spanish city of Ceuta.

[02:20:01]

Still ahead, police chasing migrants still in the city as officials wonder what to do with unaccompanied minors. Plus, anger in Argentina over legislation that changes the rules on land and property ownership, too. This all led to a fiery protest in Buenos Aires. That story after the break. See you in a moment.

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HUNTE: Police fired rubber bullets and tear gas during protests in Buenos Aires and Argentina on Thursday.

[02:24:58]

They also used water cannons against demonstrators who were angry over controversial land and property reforms. Critics include unions, social organizations, and war veterans. They say the legislation allows foreign entities to purchase too much Argentine property and would allow the government to sell off national sovereignty.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTE: Aid groups say resources are running out in Ceuta following a massive flood of migrants from Morocco. Officials say up to 5,000 of them are still in the Spanish enclave, out of about 72,000 who stormed across the border last week. The city's mayor now says the death toll from the migrant rush has reached 100 people. Hundreds of those still in Ceuta are unaccompanied minors, who cannot be quickly deported back to Morocco. And local leaders say the city is trying to transfer them to mainland Spain. The migrants cross the border hoping for a better life in Europe. One of them says all they want is a fair chance.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YESIM, 20-YEAR-OLD MIGRANT (through translator): We want to go to Spain because we heard you have a king under whom no one is wrong. In Morocco, we suffer corruption and administration injustice, no any level of help and education. We suffer in these four sectors. We want to work hard. We have energy, and we have capacity, you know. And we want to develop our second country, make progress, you know, and boost your economy. This is our intention.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTE: For more, we're joined from Barcelona by Toni Perez, a director at Save the Children Catalonia. Thank you for being with us, sir. We have heard aid groups say they're running out of resources in Ceuta. What are your most urgent needs right now? What does the situation actually look like on the ground?

TONI PEREZ, DIRECTOR, SAVE THE CHILDREN CATALONIA: Good morning. Actually, the situation is bad. We are listening to the government authorities, you know. But we, as Save the Children, are mostly focused on the children because the children, around 1,000 from some sources, 5,000 from other sources, cannot be returned to the original country. They must be identified by authorities and given the special protection given to children.

HUNTE: Many of these children crossed believing that Europe would offer them safety or opportunity. What are they telling you now about why they decided to leave Morocco? How much do they actually understand the risks?

PEREZ: Well, the situation of the youth in Morocco has been reflected during the past days because of the unemployment, because of the lack of education, and so on. But we don't enter into the political analysis of that. The most urgent thing for us is that many thousands of children cross the border and they deserve, they need this special protection. They cannot be threatened as adults.

And the Spanish government, as the Moroccan government, has to be attached to international legislation. Then, what we claim from Save the Children is to identify and protect the most vulnerable, especially, because some of them could be exposed to trauma, to exploitation or abuse.

And, at this point, we would like to focus on the special protection for girls. We heard that about 110 girls are already into educational facilities. That's very positive. But we should pay special attention to girls because in this kind of emergencies, they are at maximum risk of trafficking and sexual exploitation, for example. HUNTE: There are still major questions over why this surge even happened in the first place. What has your organization been hearing about why there was such a sudden rush?

PEREZ: Sorry. What was the question?

HUNTE: Why was there such a sudden rush? What has your organization been hearing?

PEREZ: Well, as I said, we are not into the politics. We are in operational missions within Canary Island or Ceuta in 2021 where the first rush came. We were there with the government, just helping them, leading the response with them. And we are also in Melilla. That is another Spanish city in Northern Africa ruled by Spain.

[02:30:03]

We are monitoring constantly the situation. We are working with children through the usual mechanism, intercultural mediator, translator, special aid given and -- yeah, we are monitoring the whole southern border for the past decades. And this has been the biggest -- the biggest of the rushes and the - iniquity. You know, it's a big difference between Africa and Europe.

BEN HUNTE, CNN ANCHOR: I want to talk a bit more about the immediate risk to some of these children. What are you most worried about over the next few days for these children, if more help doesn't arrive quickly

PEREZ: The most important thing is what I said before is identifying and protecting the most vulnerable and not mixing them with all the adults. We all are -- and screening them appropriately, not only because of the age, because if they have a special needs, as I said, focusing on girls, those are the main concerns during the oncoming lane, oncoming days.

We are also receiving some news that they are still children hiding into the parks, into the rocks, at the -- at the sea coastline, and so on. Then, the full -- the government authorities, plus the police are trying to reach all those children to -- after that, I mean, screening appropriately.

And the third step will be, distribute along the different autonomous communities in Spain is what we are claiming also from here that the rest of the autonomous government of Spain receive in the better condition to all these children, because at the very end they are children first than migrants.

HUNTE: Well, please keep us updated with the latest as you gather. I'm sure well be speaking again very soon. But thank you for now

PEREZ: Thank you very much to you.

HUNTE: An Afghan boxer made a new court appearance in Greece on Thursday as he faces accusations of killing a female aid worker. Police believe that this video shows the suspect wheeling a suitcase in which he put the victim's body before dumping it at a construction site in Athens last month. He has been charged with intentional homicide, robbery and firearms offenses. He denies the homicide charge and he claims the Scottish woman was already dead when he found her, before he allegedly panicked and decided to remove the body.

Elinda Labropoulou has the details for us.

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ELINDA LABROPOULOU, JOURNALIST: It really is a horrific story. It's also a very unusual story because, as you can understand, it involves a suitcase in the middle of Athens. This construction site was in a very central location in Athens and was found in the middle of the summer. It's containing a person on top of that.

And then the news broke that this was an aid worker, that it was a foreign national, a British aid worker, the -- Elisabeth Ross. So police and Interpol got on the case and more information started emerging.

Some of the most significant facts are that the phone of the woman continued to work for days, it seems, after her death. So, it only stopped when her -- when her body was found and it contained messages sent to friends and family saying that she needed time for herself. She needed to be away from people. So, basically pushing people back. So, her death remains unknown.

Also, money was being drawn from her bank account and, it -- police told us that the amount that was drawn was about 10,000 euros until again, the murder was discovered. Police started an investigation. CCTV footage emerged showing a man wheeling a large suitcase in the area. It is a man who was then identified as the suspect, the Afghan 26-year-old.

And the other lead that police got was from the man's wife, who went to police and actually testified, saying, well, on the night of the 15th, her husband was missing from home. And they have a tracker, a tracker app. And the tracker app showed that he was in the flat of this woman, the aid worker, that then was then found dead.

In the beginning, she did not confront him but started thinking about it once they found the body. This was a person that was known to both of them. It was another aid worker and all of them had worked together in the past. So this led to the man's arrest on Sunday and to where we are today. The man is now pending trial.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HUNTE: Dr. Anthony Fauci became a U.S. household name during the pandemic and was even honored by President Trump.

[02:35:03]

But now, some Republicans believe that he should face charges. We'll have the details for you after this break.

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HUNTE: Let's go back to our breaking news of a deadly school shooting in Thailand. Thai police say a student opened fire earlier at a secondary school just north of Bangkok. Six people were killed, three teachers and three students, 15 people were wounded, two of them critically.

Thailand's central investigation bureau told CNN the situation is now under control. Earlier reports said the shooter had killed himself. But our Kristie Lu Stout told us earlier at the top of the hour that the shooter is still alive. We'll have more details as they do become available.

Let's go live now to Karla Cripps, CNN travel senior digital producer, who is live at the scene north of Bangkok for us.

Thank you for being with us.

What are you learning about the school shooting now? What can you tell us?

KARLA CRIPPS, CNN TRAVEL SENIOR DIGITAL PRODUCER: Well, as you said, it's -- we're about just a few kilometers north of Bangkok here. It's a school in a province called Nonthaburi. There's about 3,000 students here, unfortunately, six casualties, including three students and three teachers and more than a dozen wounded.

We're hearing that everything started after 10:00 a.m. this morning. I'm here now at the school. Now, things have slowed down. Ambulances are still coming in and out, though.

It's really a surreal feeling here at the school now. I have to say, I -- I have a personal connection. My -- my son goes to this school. Fortunately for me, he's a competing in Japan this week. So, he wasn't here.

But, yeah, it's been tough. I've seen in the parent groups this morning since after 10:00 a.m. just the panic going around. It's -- it's hard. I will say my, my son right before he competed today, he told me, he -- one of his favorite guidance counselors was among those who were killed.

So, it's -- it's -- yeah, it's quite surreal for me at the moment I have to say.

HUNTE: Can you just tell us a bit more about what other parents are saying? I mean, you're live there for us at the scene. It must be -- it must be absolutely awful for you to be there, even just seeing this school in these circumstances.

CRIPPS: Yes, it's the -- as you would imagine, it's just panic, especially those hours of uncertainty that there's just a lot of what's happening. Can you update us? Parents were advised not to come to the school. So, it's just very tense.

Those moments waiting just now, you know, at the school here, we're still seeing students around, parents coming in and comforting them. It's a really sad atmosphere.

HUNTE: And where were you when you first heard about this? How did you hear about this happening?

CRIPPS: I was actually at home doing my regular work for CNN online, and my son called me from Japan in a panic, telling me that he'd heard there was a shooting at his school. The kids were told to lock down in their classrooms, and he obviously was -- he was very upset. His friends are here. All of his teachers.

So, of course, it's just -- it's been terrible for everyone. Not sure what the outcome would be in that. And now that things are calm, it's all -- the pieces are coming together. It's -- my son heard, his friend's brother is in the hospital right now. He's among the injured. So we're -- you know, the stories are coming out.

HUNTE: Gosh.

CRIPPS: It's heartbreaking. When you work in the media, you hear about these stories all the time. And it's -- you just -- you really don't expect it to hit this close to home.

HUNTE: And we are so sorry that you are going through this. It's absolutely awful to hear about.

Can you just tell us a bit more about the police presence as well? What was it? Okay, if you could just hear me there, what was the police presence like? What is it like on the scene and what was the security response like when this all started to happen?

CRIPPS: Sorry, I'm back now.

HUNTE: Carla, if you can hear me, what was what was the security response like when this all started to happen?

I think we're just losing Karla there, but we will try and bring you the latest as we do get it.

That's Karla Cripps reporting for us in Thailand.

Onwards, Dr. Anthony Fauci's lawyer is blasting a Senate panel's recommendation that he be held in contempt of Congress as a, quote, "crude political stunt and abuse of power". Dr. Fauci invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination more than 100 times during a very contentious hearing last week on the government's response to the COVID pandemic that set up the contempt vote, which Republicans passed eight seven along party lines. The vote would normally have gone to the full Senate.

President Trump, who honored dr. Fauci with a presidential commendation during his first term, seemed open to prosecution, but it is unclear what the Justice Department will actually do next.

Let's get some more now from CNN's Kristen Holmes at the White House for us.

[02:45:01]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: The big question now is what the Department of Justice decides to do with that. We have seen the second term, President Trump and the Department of Justice really working together to go after a number of President Trump's perceived political enemies, which Dr. Fauci is certainly one of. We've seen him go after James Comey, Letitia James.

Now, not all of these charges have stuck. And as you mentioned, there are a lot of questions as to the legality of whether or not there's actually even a case there and that could be brought forward to the Department of Justice.

So, this is going to be not only a big political test as you laid out, but also a big legal test. Can they actually come up with a case as President Trump so clearly wants?

Now, President Trump has really been at odds with Dr. Fauci since the COVID 2020 pandemic, but it was since he came back into office that you have seen those knives out. I just a reminder earlier this term, President Trump actually removed Fauci's government-issued security. He received a number of death threats. So, he had security, took that away from Dr. Fauci, saying he didn't need it anymore. And that was just the beginning of what we have seen with President Trump going after Fauci at every turn, ranting in that kind of brief clip you played. That was probably the most tame President Trump has been when it comes to Fauci that we've heard since the beginning of this term.

So right now, a lot of eyes are going to be on the Justice Department on both Todd Blanche and Jeanine Pirro, people already thinking, especially with blanche, that this is a politicized, weaponized Jstice Department. What are they going to do next?

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HUNTE: The Federal Aviation Administration is ordering the inspection of hundreds of Boeing 737 Max planes. Still to come, why the agency mandated those inspections. See you in a moment.

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[02:51:30]

HUNTE: The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration is ordering inspections of hundreds of Boeing 737 Max jets for possible cracks. The FAA warns that undetected damage could reduce the plane's structural integrity.

CNN's aviation correspondent Pete Muntean has the latest for us.

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PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Just last week, the FAA proposed inspections of seat assemblies on hundreds of Boeing 737 Maxes, fearing that entire rows could come loose in an emergency. Now the agency is ordering inspections starting next month on a different part after it received reports of cracks in the fuselage or body of these planes.

The FAA says that 471 Boeing 737 Max 8s and Max 9s may have cracked structural reinforcement near the forward service door that is on the right side of the airplane, near the forward galley that's used by the flight attendants. The good news is that this does not require any sort of grounding of these planes, and that's key during the peak of summer travel season, and especially since these planes have become the backbone of airline fleets.

Boeing says in this case, it is already notified airlines on its own. The FAA also says that Boeing is addressing the issue on new planes before they leave the factory. The agency cracked down on Boeing after investigators said a quality control failure led to the omission of key bolts on one 737 Max before it left the factory, leading to that dramatic door plug blowout on an Alaska Airlines flight in January 2024.

By the way, this is not the first time the company has had to deal with structural cracking on 737. In 2019, Boeing 737 next gen models, that's the 737 700, 800, 900 were ordered to be inspected after some planes were found to have cracks in a structural component connecting the planes fuselage to the wings.

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HUNTE: Two aging spacecraft are running low on power as they continue their interstellar journey. Still to come, the innovative solution that could help the voyagers to continue their scientific mission. See you in a moment.

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[02:55:59]

HUNTE: More than 900 million SpaceX shares became eligible for trading on Thursday, more than doubling the number publicly available. This means some employees and early investors can now trade or sell shares they acquired before the company's IPO. SpaceX shares rose more than 6 percent on Thursday, rebounding just a day after the stock suffered its second worst day on record.

Newly released pictures by South Korea's lunar orbiter showed a SpaceX Falcon IX before and after it collided with the moon. The Korea aerospace administration shared the photos on social media. The agency says the images show the crater that was blasted out by the rockets upper stage when it slammed into the moon on Wednesday. The pictures provide scientists with data to analyze changes on the lunar surface.

Two NASA astronauts carried out an hours long spacewalk outside the international space station on Thursday. Their goal was to prepare the exterior of the station for roll-out solar arrays, which are due to be delivered later this year. The arrays will provide extra power for the station. NASA says the spacewalk lasted six hours and 27 minutes. NASA engineers may have figured out how to buy two aging spacecraft

more time to continue their interstellar mission. We are calling the solution the Big Bang fix. They ordered Voyager I and II to switch off power to some devices while keeping the power on for others. This allows the probes to maintain the correct temperature to keep operating. The voyagers are more than 20 billion kilometers away from Earth. Launched in 1977, they have flown past planets including Jupiter and Saturn.

All right. That's all I've got for you. Thanks for joining me and the team. I'm Ben Hunte in Atlanta. I'll be back in just a few minutes with today's top stories.

You are watching CNN.

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