Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Iran Issues Demands to Reopen Strait; Spain Sets Border Controls With Italy; Thousands Flee British Columbia Fires. Aired 3- 3:30a ET

Aired August 09, 2026 - 03:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:00:00]

BEN HUNTE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, wherever you are in the world, you are now in the CNN Newsroom with me, Ben Hunte, in Atlanta, and it is so good to have you with me.

Coming up on the show, Tehran refuses to reopen the Strait of Hormuz until a list of demands for the U.S. has been met, while putting out previously unseen images of its new supreme leader.

Spain is imposing border controls on travelers from Italy over a migration dispute after Italy recently did the same. We'll break down that conflict for you.

And thousands of people are evacuated in British Columbia as fast- moving fires burn through homes and towns.

Welcome. And we begin with the White House response to reports that a top U.S. general wants to find an off-ramp to the war with Iran. Several sources say Dan CKaine has discussed his view that the war has reached a crossroads with other key cabinet officials.

CNN's Julia Benbrook explains.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sources familiar with the matter have told CNN that Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General Dan Caine has made clear to other top advisers that the United States needs to be looking for an off-ramp from the war with Iran. That's because the potential military operations on the table to escalate the conflict could backfire, and because air power alone is limited when it comes to achieving President Donald Trump's stated objectives.

Those who spoke with our team said that Caine has discussed these concerns with other key officials, including CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Vice President J.D. Vance. Some say that he has been less direct when it comes to Trump, that he has carefully communicated the downsides of the potential military options. Now, we did reach out to Caine's team for more specifics. They said that they would not discuss confidential conversations between him and the president, the secretary, or other top officials, and added that they would not comment on what they referred to as agenda-driven characterizations of those conversations by sources who were not privy to them.

A White House official, in a response to some of this reporting, did say this, quote, General Caine is an incredible asset to President Trump's national security team, and the overwhelming success of Operations Epic Fury, Midnight Hammer, and Absolute Resolve speaks for itself. The general always provides accurate, unbiased information and a host of options to the commander in chief, who ultimately makes decisions based on what he feels is best for U.S. national security.

This comes as there are reports of a dwindling munition stockpile. This was a key topic at a recent cabinet meeting held at Camp David. And while Trump has said that certain munitions are, quote, in tighter supply after these months and months of the conflict with Iran, he has also said that he believes that the United States has what it needs to continue fighting. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: 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, and we're getting them in on a daily basis.

We always want more. We have to have more. We have other things maybe come up, but 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)

BENBROOK: And as this conflict now nears the sixth month mark, Vice President J.D. Vance, in an interview with Fox News that aired over the weekend, said that he wanted to make it clear that we are in the middle of the game here, adding, quote, this thing is not over.

Traveling with the president in New Jersey, Julia Benbrook, CNN.

HUNTE: Well, meanwhile, Iran's national security chief has issued a list of demands for the U.S. to complete before Iran is willing to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. That's according to state media. They include the U.S. paying compensation to Iran and lifting the naval blockade. The U.S. would also have to withdraw military forces and permanently end the war.

The U.S. vice president says the strait is what the Trump administration is most focused on right now, and that they expect to see the amount of gas and oil flowing through the Gulf to reach pre- war levels.

[03:05:07] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

J.D. VANCE, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: We're in the middle of a game, and we're applying a whole host of tools, diplomatic, economic, military tools to ensure that we get the best outcome for the American people.

What's been going on for the past week or so is that the Iranians and the Gulf countries, particularly Oman, have been talking about how to ensure the safe flow of traffic. The one problem, of course, is the Iranians laid a large number of mines at the beginning of the war.

And so what we're really working through now is how you can actually set up a traffic scheme so that the ships that pass can pass through safely. That includes, of course, demining. That also includes a commitment from the Iranians that they're not going to fire at commercial vessels.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTE: Both Iran and Oman indicated they are close to an agreement on managing the strait. Oman, of course, sits right across the strait from Iran. But the Iranian foreign minister says any deal would be subject to other conditions, including the U.S. making amends.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ABBAS ARAGHCHI, IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: The talks with Oman are about temporary route. We're almost very close to the result. Determining this route by Iran and Oman does not necessarily mean the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. This is dependent on other factors.

The violations of the memorandum of understanding by America should be compensated. The current situation, I should say clearly, is the result of violating the memorandum of understanding by America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTE: Iran's new supreme leader has not been seen in public since he rose to power following his father's assassination, but Mojtaba Khamenei made an appearance of sorts on Saturday. Iranian state media shared this video of him giving a religious lesson to a group of people.

However, the footage appears to have been shot before the war. It's unclear why it's being released now. Sources had told CNN that around the time of Mojtaba's election, he suffered a fractured foot and cuts to his face, but he doesn't appear to be injured in that footage.

Passengers from Italy and Spain now face passport and visa checks as they travel between the two countries. Spain temporarily imposed those checks on travelers from Italy on Saturday following a very similar move by Rome affecting people coming from Spain. Madrid says the checks are random and don't affect all travelers.

Italy said it imposed the border controls because of the migrant crisis in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta. However, most migrants who stormed the border have already returned to Morocco.

Let's keep talking about it. We are joined by CNN Rome Correspondent Stefano Pozzebon. Good to see you, sir. We now have two E.U. members imposing competing and very controversial border controls. So, how serious is this moment?

STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you can think that perhaps there is a distinction between what's actually happening on the ground and of course the seriousness, Ben, of the border dispute. And this is why I think many people in the European Union think that the Union is not working and is not responding to the challenges of our time, the first one being, of course, migration.

So for years, successive Italian governments have complained with the E.U. that E.U. members were not doing enough to share the burden of migration. Italy, of course, being one of the country that is most impacted by this issue with all the speedboats and the dinghies arriving in the island of Lampedusa, Sicily, the southern coast of Italy.

Now, for the first time since then, Spain that has been so heavily impacted with those images especially. It's the images that really shocked the Union with tens of thousands of undocumented migrants jumping over the fence or swimming across the fence to enter the small exclave of Ceuta, which is not even in continental Europe. It's an exclave owned by Spain, ruled by Spain, but on the Moroccan coast. And none of those migrants actually made it to mainland Europe.

That, however, served a pretext for Rome to call for a suspension of the Schengen agreements that allows for citizens and travelers within the European Union to move freely between one country and another. And on Friday, of course, the prime minister, Pedro Sanchez of Spain, decided to retaliate because Rome had given notice that these control checks would remain until the end of next week, until the August 15.

Now, of course, this is -- it's a border fight that is happening in the middle of the summer when most Europeans are actually either dealing with the heat wave or at the beach in the holidays. It's more like political bickering than actually having any impact on the ground. But it is once again one of the reasons why so many people think that the European Union is antiquated. It's not really responding to the challenges, and especially not coming up with a unified response.

When Spain defense -- when Spain's borders were overwhelmed by these migrants, several European countries decided, issued the warnings or decided, like Italy, to stop the Schengen agreements.

[03:10:08]

The result now, of course, is that we're in August, and with most Europeans only thinking about their holidays, the two prime ministers, Giorgia Meloni here in Italy and, of course, Pedro Sanchez up there in Madrid, are instead diving down in a bittering and -- bitter and bickering political fight, only to see each other eye-to-eye and see who blinks first, unfortunately. Ben? HUNTE: Stefano, thank you so much for the update. We appreciate it.

Advocates for an American detained in Russia for four and a half years warn that he is, quote, near death. The chief of Global Reach, that's a nonprofit group representing Robert Gilman's family, says the former U.S. Marine is unresponsive to his environment after suffering physical and psychological torture in Russian custody. Neither Gilman's lawyer nor his mother have been allowed to visit him in the civilian hospital where he's being treated.

Russian officials arrested Gilman in January 2022. It was over an alleged altercation with a police officer. Gilman's family and their advocates deny those charges and say he's wrongly detained. Family members also say they were told that Secretary of State Marco Rubio raised his case with Russia's foreign minister in July.

The daughter of a Cuban American pilot is suing the Cuban government because she says Fidel Castro branded him a traitor and killed him nearly 60 years ago.

CNN's Carolina Peguero reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAROLINA PEGUERO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Pictures, newspaper clippings, letters from former Cuban leader, Fidel Castro, and a small pilot logbook are the only memories that Milagros Maria Suarez del Pino has left of her father, Rafael del Pino.

MILAGROS MARIA SUAREZ PEREZ DEL PINO, DAUGHTER OF CUBAN-AMERICAN PILOT: U.S. citizen. He went to the Army. He was a pilot, and he was betrayed.

PEGEURO: Milagros remembers her father through his letters as a loving, intelligent, and passionate man until she says Fidel Castro, once his friend, betrayed him.

DEL PINO: They studied together in Cuba. They apparently were friends. When my father learned what he was up to, he wanted to separate from him, and Castro started noticing.

PEGEURO: The family is seeking justice for del Pino, hoping for some movement now that former leader Raul Castro has been indicted for conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals and murder, stemming from his alleged role in the 1996 military shoot-down of two unarmed civilian planes operated by the Miami-based group, Brothers to the Rescue.

Raul Castro has denied that he directly ordered the planes to be shot down, and the Cuban government dismissed the charges as political theater.

In 2008, a Miami-Dade jury and judge had ordered the Cuban government to pay nearly $260 million to the del Pino family for a wrongful death. Then in 2001, the judgment was increased to more than $626 million, but those funds have yet to be paid. FRANCISCO RAMON RODRIGUEZ, FAMILY LAWYER: In our system of justice, our civil system, you can have a judgment, but you don't automatically collect that money.

PEGEURO: The family lawyers say del Pino, a U.S. citizen, was lured back to Cuba in 1959, kidnapped and executed on Cuban soil as retaliation by Fidel Castro's regime, accusing him of being a U.S. spy.

RODRIGUEZ: Del Pino, who was a pilot, rented a plane in Tamiami, took a plane over to the island, landed in the outskirts of Havana. When he landed, the spy that was with him took the keys out of the plane, jumped out. The plane was shot up, burst into flames. Del Pino was burned, he was shot, and he was taken into custody by the Castro regime.

He was then put on trial within a month or two later. He was tried in his pajamas in a hospital bed literally, not figuratively, literally, and he was found guilty and sentenced to 30 years.

PEGEURO: Del Pino remained 17 years as a political prisoner hoping to one day reunite with his family.

Days before his scheduled release, Milagros' father was found dead in his cell.

How do you feel now that there's action going on and pressure from the United States with Raul Castro's indictment? Do you feel that this is a way of opening the doors for justice for your father's death?

DEL PINO: I just want justice for my father. I know I'll never have him, but at least I want him to rest in peace.

PEGEURO: Carolina Peguero, CNN, Miami.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HUNTE: A 12-year-old girl is now among those killed in Thailand's worst school shooting in years.

[03:15:00]

She is the first student confirmed dead after a 14-year-old stormed his high school just north of Bangkok on Friday. At least eight people have been killed, including three teachers and two school staffers. Police say he also killed his two grandparents in their home.

Terrified students described how they moved desks to block doors, turned off the lights, and hid. One student says she contacted her sister when the shots began.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KHIM, 14-YEAR-OLD STUDENT OF DEBSIRIN NOTHABURI SCHOOL: I messaged my sister to tell her the gunman was in building four, to be careful and lock the door. Then I heard more gunshots and felt worried whether she'd survived. I was extremely anxious, and I told her, I love you. If we get out of this, let's go home together. She said, I'm scared, but you have to stay with me.

I've never felt this happy before, being reunited with my sister. When we're together, we usually fight all the time, but this time, seeing her again, I've never loved her this much before.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTE: Our Ivan Watson has more details from Thailand.

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is a community very much in mourning after a 14-year-old student opened fire on the campus of this high school, killing at least five school teachers. So, we've been watching well-wishers come in light candles, say a prayer, lay flowers here.

The victims include a math teacher, a Thai language teacher, a guidance teacher as well. The school saying, quote, your goodness and virtue and your spirit as a teacher will remain in our memories forever.

And I spoke with a father of a student who is grateful. He says the teachers protected the children effectively with their bodies from the bullets in this deadly incident, and yet he says he's going to bring his boy back here when the school reopens.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't see anything wrong with this school at all, for me, really. So, that's why Next week, school open, I send my son to come to school the same.

WATSON: You're confident?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I feel confident. I'm not scared or anything, just sad. Only see this school -- like I used to come to every day with a good feeling, but today came with a hurt feeling. Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: Authorities have confirmed that a 12-year-old girl also succumbed to her injuries on Saturday.

A disturbing detail I'm hearing from my witnesses is how long the shooting went on, with rescue workers flooding into the scene, helping evacuate wounded and some of the thousands of survivors, and the shooting continuing afterwards.

And this is, of course, opening up big questions about mental health and gun safety since these kind of mass shootings have been happening with increasing frequency in recent years here in Thailand.

Ivan Watson, CNN, Nonthaburi, Thailand.

HUNTE: Wildfire smoke continues to hang in the skies over parts of Canada. Coming up, the latest on a fast-moving blaze prompting thousands of evacuations in British Columbia.

See you in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:20:00]

HUNTE: Welcome back. Football legend Lionel Messi has arrived in his hometown of Rosario, Argentina to say a final farewell to his father, who passed away this weekend at 68 years old. Jorge Messi was a constant presence throughout his son's unparalleled career as a professional footballer, even serving as his agent and representative too.

Tributes have poured in from across the soccer world for the former steelworker, crediting Jorge for guiding Lionel's career and emotionally supporting him as he rose to global stardom.

A fast-moving wildfire in western Canada has sparked a province-wide state of emergency in British Columbia. Within hours of the first report on Friday, the Board Range fire spread across 19 square miles. The British Columbia Premier said the wildfire is destroying properties and has already prompted several rescue operations.

More than 20,000 residents have now been ordered to evacuate. Earlier, CNN spoke with the mayor of Summerland, one of the towns in the fire hit area.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DOUG HOLMES, SUMMERLAND MAYOR: I'm in Penticton with you know, 12, 15,000 of my fellow residents and everybody is, of course, on edge and concerned about their properties. We know we have lost properties. We don't know exactly how many properties have -- you know, structures have been lost, but we know some have been lost. And they're still fighting the fire. It's still out of control. And until it's under control we can't really go in and do a proper count and to see what buildings have been lost. But everybody knows the -- everybody will know of somebody who've lost, who's lost their homes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTE: In Southern Spain, hundreds of people have been evacuated from their homes as firefighters battle a wildfire that's burned at least 4,000 hectares. Authorities say shifting winds, record heat, and drought conditions have complicated efforts to contain that blaze.

And in Serbia, crews are struggling to fight a wildfire that is devastating a nature reserve. The fire has burned thousands of hectares of protected woodland, but first responders have so far prevented the loss of nearby homes.

Flashfloods have killed nearly 100 people in northeastern India. Triggered by torrential monsoon season rains, at least 98 people in Assam State have been killed. At least four others are still missing. Officials say the floods have affected more than 400 villagers, pushing nearly 10,000 people into relief camps.

The floods have swelled one of the world's largest rivers in Assam, the Brahmaputra. The floodwaters have caused widespread damage, submerging streets, uprooting trees, and stranding residents.

Eastern China is shutting down ports and ferries and bracing for the arrival of Typhoon Dolphin.

[03:25:04]

It is expected to make landfall later on Sunday and into Monday. Authorities have said the system is an orange category typhoon. That is the second highest threat level.

Some coastal communities are expecting waves of up to eight meters or 26 feet. Forecasts say winds could also top 100 miles an hour near the center of the storm.

As the initial rain bands of Typhoon Dolphin made landfall in Taiwan, something very unusual happened. A tornado, which is very rare in the region, touched down just outside of Taipei, and it shocked both residents and local meteorologists.

CNN's Will Ripley has more for us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A rare tornado formed just outside Taipei. The twister appeared Saturday afternoon as the outer bands of Typhoon Dolphin swept across northern Taiwan. People here are used to powerful typhoons, but tornadoes are much less common. When they do happen, they're often spawned by the intense thunderstorms that form within a typhoon's outer rain bands.

Meteorologists say that's what happened here. Even though Typhoon Dolphin's center stayed hundreds of miles north of the island, one of its rain bands moved across Northern Taiwan, generating this dramatic tornado.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTE: Prague held its Pride Festival on Saturday with a celebration of color and music. Thousands marched through the capital of the Czech Republic. A small number of people did protest at the event, hanging anti-LGBTQ banners on an overpass. Still, a 2023 European Union study found the Czech Republic has one of the lowest levels of perceived discrimination in Central and Eastern Europe.

That's all I've got for you. Thanks for joining me and the team. I'm Ben Hunte in Atlanta. I'll see you in two weeks.

Elite Escapes is next, then CNN Newsroom continues in 30 minutes' time. See you soon.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:30:00]

(ELITE ESCAPES)