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CNN This Morning

Russia Hits Kyiv With Deadly Missile Strikes; Ransom Notes Released In Nancy Guthrie Case; Iran Says It Targeted U.S. Military In Kuwait With Drones; Blanche's Attorney General Nomination Paused As 2 Republicans Hold Out; Consumer Confidence Rises For Second Straight Month; Major Oil Companies Reap Massive Profits As U.S. And Iran Fighting Drives Energy Prices Higher. Oil Producers See Huge Gains During U.S. War with Iran; Two U.S. Officials Say New Strikes on Iran Could Come as Soon as This Weekend; Deadly Russian Attack Hits Kyiv and Surrounding Regions Overnight. Aired 6-7a ET

Aired August 01, 2026 - 06:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:00:27]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to CNN This Morning. Here's what you need to know today. We are starting with breaking news out of Ukraine. Russia launched a ballistic missile attack on Ukraine. We're getting updated numbers on those killed and those injured. We've got the latest for you coming up.

We now know what was in the least -- at least two of those ransom notes sent to Nancy Guthrie's family in the days after her disappearance, why investigators are releasing them now and where their case stands.

And it may be a break in the standoff over Todd Blanche's nomination for attorney general, what President Trump is saying about his nominee and the two GOP holdouts stalling that nomination.

A potentially record breaking heat wave is gripping parts of the country. That heat is adding fuel to wildfires already burning in the West. We have that forecast for you.

Also, the rise and risk of AI health influencers. What you should know and what you should look out for when scrolling through your feed. That's coming up on CNN This Morning.

It's a brand new month. Saturday, August 1st. Already we're going through this year. Thanks for joining me. I'm Victor Blackwell.

We're starting this morning with that breaking news out of Ukraine.

Russia launched a massive attack on Kyiv overnight, killed at least nine people, injured dozens of others. Officials say Russia launched 35 missiles, including 27 high speed ballistic missiles, along with 185 drones. Ukraine intercepted one of those ballistic missiles and exposed the severe shortage in their air defenses.

Kyiv took the heaviest hit with damage image reported across seven districts, including a school and the Lithuanian embassy. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy issued an urgent plea to Western allies for U.S. Patriot missile interceptors. He said that keeping those systems in warehouses instead of on the front lines is costing civilian lives every night.

Six months after Nancy Guthrie was taken from her Tucson home, investigators have now released two ransom notes and they're urging the public to look closely at the distinct writing style for clues. That message seems to show a changing mindset for the kidnappers and a plan that quickly spiraled out of control.

TMZ's Harvey Levin breaks down what that second note signals about the alleged kidnappers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARVEY LEVIN, FOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, TMZ: This was always just a money grab. They knew that Nancy's daughter was Savannah, that Savannah presumably had a lot of money and they could get some quick cash by taking her and then returning her. And it did not go that way. And you really see the remorse and the shock almost in that second note that was sent four days later.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: CNN's Ed Lavandera has more on the contents of those two ransom notes.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Victor the first note that was sent to the Guthrie family through various media outlets started off by saying, we have your mother, and then laid out a schedule of ransom demands and then saying that she would be killed if these payments weren't made within seven days.

The writer goes on to tell the Guthrie family not to play games. Your mother is aware essentially, that her life is on the line here and that her life is in the hands of the Guthrie family. Now, that note was sent on February 2nd, the day after Nancy Guthrie was taken from her home in Tucson.

And if you remember on the timeline here, it was two days later that Savannah Guthrie and her brother and sister put out the first Instagram video where they essentially addressed the author of this note directly, saying that we are ready to talk and asked in that note, in that video for a proof of life of their mother.

Then several days later, they get a second note. And in that note, the writer says that we did not fully grasp the seriousness of her physical condition. We never intended to hurt her. That was not our intention. She perished shortly after she was taken and that she is buried in nature. Now, that note was sent just on February 6th, and then it was on

February 7th that Savannah Guthrie and her brother and sister put out another Instagram video saying, we received your message and we understand.

[06:05:02]

Now it has been more than six months since Nancy Guthrie was taken from her home. And Pima County authorities, as well as the FBI, say that the reason they're putting out the text of these notes, which have been kept kind of very tight to investigative circles over these last few months, is that they are hoping that the public will read them, maybe notice a pattern in verbal syntax, the writing style, the way this person is communicating, to determine whether or not that might be able to help them or help someone identify who the culprits are in this crime.

But of course, we don't know if this was written by someone or multiple people or if this might have been written by a artificial intelligence. And it would be very hard to kind of detect those patterns. But because of that, authorities at this point are saying that they're hoping that the public will take a closer look at all of this and see if they notice any patterns in the hopes that it will lead them to, to who Nancy Guthrie's abductors might be. Victor.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: All right, Ed Lavender, of course, thanks so much. This morning in the U.S. war with Iran, two U.S. officials say fresh strikes on Iran are possible as soon as this weekend. President Trump led a cabinet meeting at Camp David yesterday. While there, he appeared to threaten Iran as he weighs his options.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: You know, we'll be hitting him, we'll be hitting him very hard. And you know, at some point they're going to say we just can't take it anymore.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: In the meantime, according to Iranian state media, Iran targeted an air base in Kuwait. Kuwait said it intercepted Iranian drones targeting the country's military facilities and civilian vehicles. CNN senior White House correspondent Kristen Holmes has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: The United States is planning fresh strikes on Iran this weekend, although it's not clear what exactly the scope is going to be. Now, this comes at a time where U.S. Central Command has been preparing a number of different options. One of those options is expanding the war and it would include a two-week bombardment of Iranian missile sites. Another one of the options that we have heard is being prepared for is the striking of energy sites.

Now, one thing to make clear, we've been down this pathway before. President Trump has said he's going to commit these strikes. And these U.S. officials who are telling us about what the preparing is to go into this weekend, they are also noting that nothing is finalized until those strikes actually happen.

President Trump, he certainly seemed intent on ratcheting up the military action. Here's what he said.

TRUMP: We'll be hitting them very hard. You know, at some point they're going to say, we just can't take it anymore. We just want to win. We don't want to have them. It's very simple. They cannot have a nuclear weapon.

HOLMES: Now it feels as though the U.S. and Iran has come to some kind of an impasse and there has to be something that happens and to change the current state of play. We know behind the scenes mediators are trying to bring Iran and the United States back to the table for that negotiating.

But right now, it certainly doesn't seem as though they are headed in that direction. Now, one other thing that we have learned from U.S. officials is there's been talk about potential strikes on nuclear sites, including Pickaxe Mountain. Now, that wouldn't be only Pickaxe Mountain, that be one of them. This is something that experts are really divided on just whether or not it would actually make an impact, any kind of impact.

But of course, we're waiting to see what actually happens over the weekend, but we are told that the U.S. as of now is planning a new set of strikes as early as this weekend. Kristen Holmes, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Well, now to the standoff over Todd Blanche's nomination for attorney general. The Senate Judiciary Committee is set to meet on Tuesday for a possible vote, but it's not clear if his nomination has the votes to get out of committee. Two GOP senators, John Cornyn of Texas, Thom Tillis of Carolina are holding their votes. They say they want written assurances that $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund will not be revived along with the commitments related to tax investigations of the Trumps.

The White House is working to break the stalemate. President Trump is publicly pressing Republicans to move Blanche's nomination forward. He was asked about the delay and the president defended both Blanche and that weaponization, anti-weaponization fund.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Todd Blanche is a very, very good man and he shouldn't be in the middle of this. He should get approved because you will never get anybody like him. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just to be clear, do you agree with the acting attorney general that the anti-weaponization fund is dead? And why not just put that in writing?

TRUMP: It is dead, but you know, I wish it weren't, to be honest with you. I think people were horribly treated, horribly abused. This has nothing to do with Todd. This was me horribly abused and I'd like to see them compensated for the pain.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Blanche has already said the controversial fund is dead. The Justice Department says it's been abandoned. But the holdout senators say that promise is not enough because it's not in writing.

[06:10:06]

Headlines for you this morning, the Justice Department is now calling President Trump's Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool overhaul hasty and botched. That came in a filing last night that dropped charges against former Olympian David Hearn, who had been charged with felony vandalism of that pool.

For weeks, President Trump and others had blamed vandals for the damaged pool lining and ongoing problems at that landmark.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Somebody went in with a knife and cut it. They cut it up good. I think 290, 300 foot slit right through it. Probably a box cutter or a knife of some kind. At the right time you'll see it. You'll see it in court.

JEANINE PIRRO, U.S. ATTORNEY'S OFFICE, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: He damaged this pool. Well, when I file a charge, I'll be happy to show you a picture. All right.

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Deranged individuals, many of them longtime donors to the Democrat Party, to Barack Obama.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Well, in the new filing, the Justice Department blamed other federal agencies, including the Department of the Interior for the pool's problems. They said the case against Hearn should never have moved forward.

A military pilot is safe after ejecting from an F-35 fighter jet that crashed at a Marine base in Southern California yesterday. Officials say the aircraft went down near the Runway, then burst into flames. The pilot was taken to a hospital with injuries that are not considered life threatening.

Jurors in the murder trial, Lindsay Clancy, were taken to the home where prosecutors say she killed her three children in 2023. Jurors were able to see the home's layout for themselves after days of testimony about what happened that night. Clancy has pleaded not guilty. Her attorneys argue that she's suffering from severe postpartum mental illness and she was suffering at the time of those killings.

There's a strange twist in the economy. Grocery prices and gas prices are up, but so is optimism. We'll break down what's behind the summer surge in consumer confidence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: You know who's behind it? Minnesota. Because they're grossly incompetent. I think the governor's rejected.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: You heard the president's version claiming Minnesota is behind the recent cyber attacks. Coming up, we are fact checking these claims and more.

And later, the doctor in your feed may not actually exist. Before you take medical advice from TikTok or Instagram, we've got a warning about these rising AI health influencers.

And live look here at Philadelphia. Good morning.

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[06:17:25]

BLACKWELL: Consumer sentiment edged higher in July. That's according to the final report from the University of Michigan's monthly gauge of how people feel about the economy. Despite that, a new CNN poll shows that 65 percent of Americans say President Trump's economic policies have hurt the country. About three quarters of those surveyed said the President is not in touch with the problems of ordinary Americans in their daily lives.

With me now, Lydia DePillis, economic reporter for the New York Times. Lydia, welcome back to the show. Is there some clear explanation for the increase in consumer confidence while there's also an increase in the cost of gas and other necessities?

LYDIA DEPILLIS, ECONOMIC REPORTER, NEW YORK TIMES: These things don't always map one to one. And the measure that you're referring to is the University of Michigan sentiment index, but there are others. The Conference Board's consumer confidence measure actually slid in July.

So it's hard to interpret these numbers, but the overall picture is that they are quite a bit lower than they were at this time last year. And I think that is a representation of the toll that higher price have taken on consumers pocketbooks as well as a widespread dislike for the war.

You know, the rebound in the Michigan survey might have been a result of just some relief that there was a cessation in hostilities, and it might not have come in time for the resumption of fighting that we've seen over the last few weeks.

BLACKWELL: There might be some carryover to this first question, to the next question. I have here about the U.S. economy growing at a slower rate than expected. Second quarter 1.5 the expectation was 2.1 percent. First quarter was 2.1 percent at an annualized rate. What slowed things down?

DEPILLIS: So the first quarter reading was a little bit artificially lifted by this reopening effect. Remember the government shutdown that actually depressed government growth in the fourth quarter of last year. And so the reversal of that made the first quarter look artificially good. But the second quarter, it wasn't actually that bad.

You know, it was brought down by some inventory factors, but the final demand piece of it was actually unexpectedly strong. So I wouldn't overread that headline. Most economists, economists think that it's actually pretty positive under the hood.

BLACKWELL: Yes. You know, there are polls that show that voters are disappointed by the economy, pessimistic about what's coming. However, there is this yes and variable in the economy because consumer spending up 33.2 percent expanded an annualized rate, I should say 3.2 percent in the second quarter.

[06:20:03]

First quarter was 0.5 percent. What are we seeing here about the spending habits even as people aren't really feeling good about the national and their personal economic situation?

DEPILLIS: Yes, I mean, consumer spending is an aggregate measure and it's been buoyed in recent months by high income consumers who seen their home prices rise there or their home values rise. Their stock market portfolios stay kind of around this very high watermark.

So underneath that number, we do see weakness in spending from lower income consumers. And you hear that from retailers like Walmart at Costco and Dollar General.

So it's not an overall picture -- it is an overall picture, but it's not representative of every single American. There's certainly a lot of difficulty when you get down into those lower income segments, but in it is still powering the economy forward. Consumer spending has held up quite surprisingly well throughout all of these shocks through tariffs and gas prices and wars.

So we do hope that continues. And we'll just have to see. I mean, savings rates have been really weak. So it's not quite clear how much consumers have left in the tank.

BLACKWELL: One of your most recent pieces is about a hiring spree that I find pretty fascinating. You know, the narrative is that these sectors are pitted against one another. But the headline is AI companies are recruiting electricians and carpenters by the thousands. Tell us about it. DEPILLIS: Well, this is just one piece of how artificial intelligence is actually lifting a lot of segments of the economy right now. It's a big factor in GDP, in fact, because of all the capital expenditures that are going into building these enormous data centers.

And this is how it's affecting the labor market. It's creating a huge demand for, for skilled trades workers, carpenters, electricians, folks who lay these foundations and then put in these server racks.

And so for now, these folks are making really impressive wages, you know, 150, $200,000 sort of on an annualized basis because of all the overtime and the per diem rates that they're getting. And for the first time in a long time, these companies are actually trying to develop their own labor pipelines.

They've put in hundreds of millions of dollars to training programs because they recognize that just as they're spending billions of dollars on chips, they also need to take similar care for the workers that build them. And the question is, what is going to happen when the data center boom recedes? It's not going to last forever. And the hope is that these folks will be able to move on and work on other projects when the data center boom has passed us.

BLACKWELL: At least have a little Runway for the near term. Lydia DePillis thanks so much.

Big oil equals big money. We've got new earnings from some of the biggest U.S. oil companies as we're all paying big money at the Pump.

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[06:27:26]

BLACKWELL: Big oil companies are reporting massive profits, driven in large part by higher energy prices during the war with Iran. CNN's David Goldman has a look at who's making the most money, what's driving those gains and why. The price we pay at the pump is a big part of that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID GOLDMAN, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS REPORTER: Hey there. Yes. Oil prices were extraordinary in this past quarter. They are all up because of the Iran war, and they're up a lot. When you're talking about oil profits this big, you're talking about historic oil profits. Oil was the big cause for Exxon getting $15 billion in profit in the second quarter. That was the biggest since 2022. Chevron quadrupled its profit over the past year, and then Shell had its second highest quarterly profit ever.

And when you're talking about numbers this big, it really helps to understand what they mean in perspective. Well, Exxon every single day made $161 million in the past quarter. That's $6.7 million per hour. Every second Exxon made $112,000 in profit last quarter.

And just to put that into perspective, the average or the median household income in the United States is $84,000 a year. That means that Exxon was making more profit than the median American family makes every single year. And that was every second for Exxon.

Now, these prices that we've seen in fuel and in crude, well, that is what is fueling this, so to speak. Oil, certainly, we know, up 20 percent since the start of the war, but gas is a big factor to almost double the gain in oil and diesel. Look at this, 42 percent. And that's not just because of Iran. We know that Russia has been bombarded by drone fire and its refineries have been exploding because of Ukraine's attacks. That is fueling all those diesel gains as well.

But, you know, remember, it's a boom and a bust business being in the oil business. In 2020, Exxon lost $22.4 billion that year because no one was traveling and the price of oil imploded. Well, we don't know if that's going to happen, but if oil prices start to come down, this could be trouble for the oil companies. For now, they're sitting pretty. Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VICTOR BLACKWELL, ANCHOR, CNN THIS MORNING WEEKEND: David, thanks. Now to the war in Iran. Two U.S. officials say new strikes on Iran could come as soon as this weekend. Now, President Trump discussed the war at yesterday's cabinet meeting at Camp David.

He expressed his anger over recently failed diplomatic efforts while threatening more military action. But U.S. officials caution any plans for potential strikes could be canceled. Joining me now is CNN global affairs analyst Kimberly Dozier. Kimberly, good to see you here in Washington --

KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Thank you --

BLACKWELL: As I'm up for the weekend. So, let's start here with this potential for more strikes. Four and a half months ago, the President said that Iran was defeated militarily. They declared Operation Epic Fury a success victory, and it's over.

But more strikes, what is persuasive at this point? What targets would make sense that could move the needle on this one way or the other?

DOZIER: Well, from the military's perspective, they asked for a plan and they give one. So, Central Command has presented a plan that would target energy infrastructure that is presumably to hurt Iran economically and rob its will to fight, and also missile capability to rob its actual munitions, to keep it from being able to target Jordan, the Gulf, et cetera.

The problem is they started with six weeks of heavy bombing, that didn't degrade their will. The people who have replaced all those who were killed have proven to be more extreme and more committed to violence.

So, a lot of folks in the national security world are saying, this is throwing, you know, good money after bad. It's not going to change --

BLACKWELL: Yes --

DOZIER: Iran's mind.

BLACKWELL: So, we got reports from Kuwait that they say that they intercepted drone strikes from Iran after Iranian aggression. There's a U.K. monitor that says there was a strike on a vessel right at the start of the Strait of Hormuz as well. We see these, while the President says that Iran is begging for a deal. Now --

DOZIER: Yes --

BLACKWELL: The diplomatic and military path can be parallel and not resemble one another. It doesn't mean there aren't diplomatic advances. But is there any indication that they are any closer to a diplomatic solution, that they're any closer to even getting to the table again?

DOZIER: Absolutely none right now.

BLACKWELL: Yes --

DOZIER: The question is, is President Trump conflating the pleas from various gulf allies to keep trying with talks because Saudi Arabia just sent their Defense Minister, who reportedly asked Trump to back off the war. They want to tamp things down.

Is he conflating that with Iran's desire to resolve something. From the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps side of things, the extremists who have taken power in the military, who are more extreme, reportedly, than the last set, they don't see a point, they don't want to give President Trump, the man who killed their supreme leader, any sort of diplomatic victory.

And they also see that every time they ratchet up any pressure on Trump and his administration, it results in higher prices. And they can see through President Trump's social media posts, et cetera, that the pressure is getting to him. So, for them, they feel like they can take the pain --

BLACKWELL: Yes --

DOZIER: And it's producing the kind of results that they want in terms of pride, and also in terms of maintaining their control on the Strait of Hormuz.

BLACKWELL: Yes, which is that economic lever that they can pull whenever they choose. So, let me ask you also about what we reported at the top of the show, 35 missiles launched by Russia into Ukraine. The Ukrainians intercepted one of them.

DOZIER: Yes --

BLACKWELL: Which exposes just how insufficient their air defenses are. Zelenskyy is asking for those U.S. Patriot missiles, interceptors. Talk about what they have and the likelihood they'll get what they need. DOZIER: Zelenskyy has been asking for some time for new supplies of

Patriot missiles. He's also been asking every European nation that has any extra, because they use them every single night. Now, Russia knows that their supplies are running low, and that's why they had more than 130 missiles fired in a single night.

I think one of the largest numbers since the start of the war, and President Trump, meanwhile, has gone back-and-forth, first saying to Zelenskyy, yes, I'm going to license Ukraine so that you guys can build your own Patriot missiles, and then going back on that in the past 24 to 48 hours.

[06:35:00]

So, it is -- it is the kind of vacillation that is a gift to Russia and is costing lives in Ukraine on the ground.

BLACKWELL: The announcement from the President that Hamas had agreed to give up its weapons, and our Jeremy Diamond spoke with a senior Hamas official that said, yes, we have agreed to this. However, the other side of that deal calls on Israel to move back behind the yellow line.

A lot of elements that they would have to agree to. We haven't heard from Netanyahu himself; I don't believe. What do you think is the viability of this deal getting to fruition?

DOZIER: It is snowball's chance, just perhaps.

BLACKWELL: Just shy --

DOZIER: I mean, I hope -- I hope it works. But you've got Israeli officials, not the Prime Minister so far, but you've got Israeli officials dismissing this deal, saying Hamas has to disarm first. And Hamas saying we won't disarm until Israel withdraws to the 53 percent of Gaza it's supposed to be in, as opposed to the 70 percent it occupies now, and before Israel stops bombing.

Since this deal was negotiated several months back, the Palestinians report that more than 1,200 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli bombing inside Gaza, which was supposed to have stopped months ago. So, each side has legitimate reasons to say to the other side, sure, we'll do this deal, but we're not taking one single step until the other side blinks first. Not likely.

BLACKWELL: Yes, and that standoff could continue. Kimberly Dozier, thanks so much.

DOZIER: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: President Trump is blaming Minnesota and Governor Tim Walz after cyber-attacks targeted water systems across several states. Here's what he said during the cabinet meeting at Camp David yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You know, who is behind

it? In Minnesota, because they're grossly incompetent. I think the governor is behind it. I don't think there was an Iranian cyber- attack.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: All right, well, here's the reality. There is no public evidence that Walz or Minnesota officials were behind the attacks. The FBI and EPA say water and wastewater utilities and at least, seven states reported incidents, and that some of that activity degraded water operations.

Federal and state officials are treating Iran as one possible suspect, but they've not made a formal determination. The accusation caught a lot of people by surprise, including Democratic Congresswoman Madeleine Dean, who spoke with CNN's Erin Burnett last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MADELEINE DEAN (D-PA): And of course, what happened in Minnesota with ICE killing American citizens in the street. So, he would love to shine a light on Minnesota and somehow reflect on Tim Walz. I don't -- Erin, trust me, I don't get the connection whatsoever. But what I do get is, this President doesn't know what the heck he's doing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: CNN fact-check also found that despite concerns over the breach, there was no evidence of any water contamination related to the cyber-attacks. All right, a dangerous combination for the west.

A brutal heat dome is pushing temperatures into the triple digits, while fierce winds threaten to fuel a historic wildfire season. We have the latest for you next. And if you're heading out, remember, I'm the best wingman.

I'll go along to stream my show from anywhere right in the U.S. from the CNN app. You know what this is. This is the Las Vegas Strip. I don't know if people are headed to bed or waking up, either way, I will say good morning, Vegas.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:40:00]

BLACKWELL: A scorching heat-dome is sending temperatures soaring across the southwest this weekend, triggering alerts for more than 50 million people across several states. CNN meteorologist Chris Warren has the latest on the extreme temperatures and the growing wildfire threat in the Pacific northwest.

A lot of orange and purple, I know purple, I don't know if we're talking temperatures, snow, rain -- purples, bad.

CHRIS WARREN, CNN METEOROLOGIST: That's right, it is. And in this case, Victor, this purple is for the heat and dangerously hot conditions here from Los Angeles all the way up to Billings, Montana, where you see the patches in here where there's no color. That's the higher elevations.

That's the mountains where it's cooler typically year-round. Now, this heat-dome, this is a hot air essentially locked in place, which is going to bake the southwest, and even throughout parts of the northern plains here with records, each one of these dots is where records could be falling this weekend.

And you think about it, some of the hottest locations, the hottest time of the year and records could fall. This is some serious heat hanging around throughout much of the weekend while fires are burning, building burning right now throughout parts of the Pacific northwest.

Five of the largest, the largest fires burning in the U.S. happening in Washington and Oregon, four of those in Oregon. This is a lot of smoke we're seeing, and the smoke is going to linger with the wind that is going to be moving in could spread some of these fires.

And that's why we're seeing extreme fire weather conditions here in parts of central Oregon and into the Columbia Basin and eastern Washington, with that fire threat continuing to push off to the east. So, while temperatures are a little bit cooler over the next couple of days, the Pacific northwest, the wind will make things bad, Victor, for firefighting efforts.

[06:45:00]

And then that heat, even in the Pacific northwest, does eventually return.

BLACKWELL: All right, Chris Warren, thanks so much. Hey, if you're getting health advice from social media, well, first, you might want to reconsider that. But also, take a closer look at the messenger. Fake A.I. influencers are flooding social -- pushing products and medical advice, all this is unverified. CNN's Clare Duffy has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARE DUFFY, CNN TECH REPORTER (on camera): There has always been wacky health information online, but A.I. has now made it so much easier to create really realistic looking, potentially credible- looking figures like doctors or herbalists to promote sham products or false health information online.

In some cases, we are even seeing real doctors having their likeness used without their consent to push questionable health products. And we are seeing these videos show up across social media. I want to show you just two videos that I found on Facebook reels that fall into this category. Watch this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If your blood sugar is high, listen, six food combinations, drop your blood sugar fast. Number six was proven in a real clinical trial. You should watch this video two more times. Like it, save it, and share it with someone who needs it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have one more trick to enhance the effect of this drink ten times more, and I always recommend this to my patients here in California for over a decade now. Follow me and comment the word true, and I'll send it to you.

DUFFY: Now, if you watch closely, you might see some red flags there in the background. And one of the doctors, he's got a degree that says University of Harvard, but you really have to be paying close attention. I plugged those videos into an A.I. detection tool from the company, Get Real Labs, and it turns out that they have a hidden watermark showing that they were made with Google's A.I., and yet, they were running on Facebook reels with thousands of views.

There were also associated account profiles where those same A.I. characters were posting repeated videos with questionable health information. I asked Meta about this, and they said that they removed those videos and accounts for violating their spam policy, and they are working to improve their technology to detect and label this kind of A.I. content.

But it really does show you how careful you have to be and how skeptical you have to be when you are scrolling through your feeds. I spoke to experts about who might be behind this, why they might be doing this, and largely, it is likely financially-motivated.

They're either linking out to supplements that people could purchase online, unclear if those are legitimate, or they're trying to drive traffic to websites that are monetizing ad dollars. One expert I spoke to said that we could also be seeing some of this coming from state- sponsored actors who want to sow distrust in American institutions.

Many of these videos, you hear them saying, your doctor won't tell you this. Don't trust your doctor. I spoke with David Evan Harris; he is an A.I. researcher and ethics adviser. He teaches at Berkeley. He told me, "Eyeballs have value. American eyeballs have value.

So, if you're a person with a computer anywhere in the world, finding ways to produce any content you can think of, getting them into a place where they can click on a thing. People can turn that into a livelihood and they will."

And of course, this could be very dangerous if people are using this online health advice and information, rather than talking to their human doctor. So, very important to be skeptical of these videos. Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Clare, thanks. And Australian library got an overdue book back with quite a history. Next, how this book resurfaced and was returned more than a century later. And it's Lollapalooza weekend in Chicago, but it's rainy and soggy start to the Saturday. Anyway, I'll say good morning.

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BLACKWELL: This week's CNN Hero is a pioneer in conservation. She was the first wildlife veterinarian in her home country of Uganda. She devotes her life to protecting endangered mountain gorillas.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The mountain gorillas used to be one of the most critically-endangered species on earth. When I first came out here as a vet student, I realized how intelligent they were. And, you know, I felt a really deep connection.

And I was like, wow, I felt it was so important that they're protected. Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is home to 43 percent of the world's endangered mountain gorillas. Bwindi is threatened by a lot of high human population growth.

There are a lot of interaction between the gorillas and the people. We used to find that people were not hygienic. Gorillas are picking up preventable diseases, basically. And this made me realize that you couldn't protect the gorillas without improving the health of their human neighbors. (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

We started village health and conservation team approach in 2007. They do a lot of good work promoting health and hygiene practices, and now we're reaching over ten thousand households.

You can make each other sick.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But we are not making each other sick because you're clean. Over time, we have seen huge changes. Having a clean toilet, a hand-washing station, a separate animal house, at the same time, we want to make sure that they're less dependent on the forest by finding them sustainable livelihoods.

You cannot keep the gorillas healthy when people next to them are poor, hungry. It just can't work. We found out that the coffee farmers were not getting a fair market price, and were still entering the forest to poach. So, then we started to sell the coffee.

[06:55:00]

We give them an above-market price and a donation from every bag goes to support community health, gorilla health and conservation education. This is showing people that we care about not just the gorillas, but we also care about them.

Gorilla tourism has completely transformed the lives of the people here, and engaging local communities is our way of making sure that gorillas are being protected. I always get very excited when I hear that baby mountain gorilla has been born, and as long as the communities see the gorillas as their future, the numbers are going to keep growing. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Now, to learn more about Glady's work, go to cnn.com/heroes. So, some library books, we know they come back a little late. Here's a story of one that took the scenic route through history.

An Australian library has finally gotten back a borrowed book that disappeared sometime in the 1870s. The book was recently found hidden inside a sealed fireplace, making it roughly 150 years overdue. Now, according to the library, the late find would have been roughly $19,500, allowing for inflation.

Here's the good thing, the fine has been forgiven. The librarians say the book will be put on display and will not be checked out again. That's smart. Hey, we've got a lot coming up in the next hour of CNN THIS MORNING including new details we're learning about an American killed in an avalanche in Pakistan.

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