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Israel Strikes Gaza and Lebanon; Palestinian Survivors Say IDF Used Them as Human Shields; Jordanian FM Says They See Ethnic Cleansing in Northern Gaza; Trump and Harris Campaign in Texas Today; North Korean Troops Seen in Russia's Kursk Region; Trump in Texas to Talk Immigration; Feds Zero in on Where Leaked Documents were Printed; Menendez 1989 Murder Case Under Review; Iceland's Four-Day Workweek is Paying Off. Aired 10-11a ET
Aired October 25, 2024 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[10:00:32]
ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Abu Dhabi, this is CONNECT THE WORLD.
ELENI GIOKOS, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Welcome to our second hour of CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Eleni Giokos in Abu Dhabi.
Israel strikes Gaza with force killing dozens of Palestinians overnight. Meanwhile, Lebanon accusing Israel of killing three journalists.
Just 11 days to go until election day, and Kamala Harris brings out the celebrity big guns. Last night, it was Bruce Springsteen and today it's
Beyonce.
And as the BRICS summit wraps up, a new alliance comes into focus, Russia and North Korea.
Welcome to the show.
And people in Lebanon losing an apparently key option for getting out of harm's way. Israeli airstrikes near Lebanon's eastern border with Syria
have forced the closure of two crossings. Israel says one of those sites was used by Hezbollah to transfer weapons. The other is considered a vital
route for Lebanese people fleeing the war. The U.N. called that strike an unacceptable attack on a critical lifeline.
Meanwhile, in southern Gaza, at least 26 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli strike on homes and tent camps for displaced people. And in the
north, health officials say Israeli troops fired on and entered a hospital in separating men and woman. CNN has reached out to the Israeli military
for comments.
I want to bring in CNN's Jeremy Diamond joining us now from Tel Aviv.
Jeremy, what is happening right now? We've been seeing, you know, overnight strikes not only in Gaza, but also in Lebanon, where the border crossings
have now been closed with Syria. Give us a sense of what is happening on the ground right now.
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is the second time that we have seen these critical border crossings disrupted by Israeli
strikes. And it's important to note that Lebanon, before this war began, had a sizable population of Syrians who had fled into Lebanon amid the
Syrian civil war and since this conflict escalated over the summer, we have seen hundreds of thousands of people flee back across the border into
Syria. About 80 percent of whom were Syrians themselves.
But now, we have seen these two critical border crossings, the Al-Qaa and the Masnaa border crossings forced to shut down as Israeli strikes hit very
close to them within a few hundred meters. We had previously seen Israel strike a border crossing over the summer. They said at the time that it was
because Hezbollah was smuggling weapons into Lebanon using tunnels that went beneath the crossings, this time the Israeli military said that it
struck, quote, "Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure sites," and once again talked about Hezbollah bringing in weapons.
We also saw overnight that the Israeli military also struck a guest house in Lebanon that was housing a number of different media outlets. Three
journalists were killed in that strike with the Lebanese information minister now accusing Israel of, quote, "deliberate assassination" of these
journalists. The three journalists who were killed were representing outlets, pro-Hezbollah outlets but we should note that multiple other media
outlets were there and certainly a pro-Hezbollah affiliation does not remove media protections from the journalists who were there. The Committee
to Protect Journalists expressing serious concerns about that action.
And then of course, we take you to Gaza where we have seen the Israeli military, not only conducting a deadly strike in Khan Younis that left at
least 26 Palestinians killed in that strike. But we are also watching intensifying Israeli military activity in northern Gaza, where we have seen
this kind of siege like situation developing over the course of the last three weeks. And now in the course of the last 24 hours, the Israeli
military has now twice, according to a hospital officials at Kamal Adwan, entered the hospital grounds there.
Tanks and bulldozers breaking down at least one wall in the compound of that hospital, entering the hospital compound and firing on the complex.
According to the hospital director there, it has left an absolutely chaotic and desperate situation at a hospital that has already been overwhelmed by
casualties and that is also running very, very short on supplies to be able to actually treat those casualties -- Eleni.
[10:05:03]
GIOKOS: Jeremy, you've also been reporting on a disturbing allegation of Israeli soldiers using Palestinians as human shields. What did you
discover?
DIAMOND: Well, we know of course that the Israeli government has frequently accused Hamas of using Palestinians as human shields. And there certainly
is ample evidence for that, whether it is rockets fired from densely populated neighborhoods, tunnels going under homes. But now we have also
uncovered mounting evidence relating to Israel's use of Palestinians as human shields, sending Palestinian civilians who they detained into
dangerous and potentially booby-trapped buildings.
And it's a practice that we've uncovered by speaking with an Israeli soldier as well as five Palestinians who said that they were detained and
used in that way.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DIAMOND (voice-over): They walked through the rubble at gunpoint into potentially booby-trapped buildings and downed darkened tunnels. Some were
teenagers, like 17-year-old Mohammad (PH)
MOHAMMAD SHBEIR, PALESTINIAN DETAINEE (through text translation): I was handcuffed and wearing nothing but my boxers.
DIAMOND: Others like Abu Aliasin (PH) were grandparents.
ABU ALIASIN (PH), PALESTINIAN DETAINEE (through text translation): They placed me in areas where I could be expose to gunfire.
DIAMOND: These five Palestinians, all civilians, say the Israeli military detained them and used them as human shields in Gaza.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through text translation): We were forced to enter homes. Each time, our lives were at risk. We feared death. We were afraid
something might happen. They would ask us to do things like, move this carpet, saying they were looking for tunnels.
DIAMOND: Now, for the first time on camera, an Israeli soldier is coming forward with his own account, describing how his infantry unit used two
Palestinians as human shields.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We told them to enter the building before us. If there are any boobytraps, they will explode and not us.
DIAMOND: We've blurred his face and changed his voice because he risks reprisals for speaking out. Breaking the Silence, a watchdog group which
verifies soldiers' testimonials, provided photographs and facilitated the interview. The soldier says a 16- year-old boy and 20-year-old man were
brought to his unit this spring.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Their hands were tied behind their back and they had a cloth over their eyes.
DIAMOND: The instructions from the intelligence officer who delivered them were clear.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He told me to take them. In the next attack used them as a human shield. He told me that they have a connection to Hamas.
DIAMOND: For two days his unit followed those orders. This haunting photo captures the scene, the silhouette of a Palestinian man flanked by two
soldiers ordering him forward.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When we went to the attack, before they enter a building, we took the cloth up so they could see. In my company, one of the
soldiers knew Arabic. He just shouted in Arabic, opened the door, walked to this building or the other.
DIAMOND: You're using them because you think this building might be booby- trapped.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, my soldiers didn't like that at all, and they refused to do this anymore.
DIAMOND (voice-over): The soldiers decided to take their concerns to their senior commander, telling him they believed they were violating
international law.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The commander told this fellow, a simple soldier doesn't need to think about international law.
DIAMOND: He didn't say, you guys shouldn't be doing this. This shouldn't be happening?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He said that we need to do this. He said that our lives are more important.
DIAMOND: So he didn't just tell you, don't worry about it. He said, keep doing it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, yes.
DIAMOND (voice-over): Eventually, the commander relented, telling his soldiers they could release the two Palestinians.
Suddenly you're allowed to release.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Yes. It made it sure to us that they are not terrorists.
DIAMOND (voice-over): In a statement, the Israeli military said the IDF's directives and guidelines strictly prohibit the use of detained Gaza
civilians for military operations. The relevant protocols and instructions are routinely clarified to soldiers in the field during the conflict. But
the Israeli military's use of human shields in Gaza appears to have been widespread, so common it even had a name, "Mosquito Protocol." Both Israeli
and international law ban the use of civilians in combat.
Israel also accuses Hamas of using civilians as human shields. There is ample evidence for it, tunnels dug beneath homes and rockets fired from
residential neighborhoods.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For me, it's more painful with my own army. Hamas is a terrorist organization. The IDF shouldn't use terrorist organization
practices.
DIAMOND: And so when you hear, you know, spokespeople for the Israeli military, Israeli government officials saying, you know, the Israeli
military is the most moral army in the world.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's (EXPLETIVE DELETED). Of course, I don't believe that.
DIAMOND (voice-over): Dr. Yahya Al-Kayali, who worked at Al Shifa Hospital, knows that all too well. Months after, he says, Israeli soldiers forced him
to risk his life, he cannot shake this terrifying experience.
DR. YAHYA AL-KAYALI, DISPLACED GAZAN RESIDENT: A soldier asked me to come. He was talking me to English. Told me, I will kill you if you didn't enter
there. I was thinking that I will be killed or die within minutes.
DIAMOND: His brush with death and the day he feared he would never again see his family.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[10:10:07]
DIAMOND (on-camera): And of course, Eleni, it is notable that the Israeli Military in its statement did not deny the use of this practice. They said
that it is prohibited but they didn't deny its existence in Gaza, and of course this is just one of a very long list of alleged war crimes now
having been committed by Israeli soldiers in Gaza -- Eleni.
GIOKOS: All right. Important reporting there, Jeremy. Thank you so much for that updates. Good to see you, Jeremy Diamond for us in Tel Aviv.
Well, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has wrapped up his meeting in London with Middle East leaders. Jordan's foreign minister telling him that
the situation in northern Gaza is getting worse and claiming that there are signs of ethnic cleansing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AYMAN SAFADI, JORDANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: As you mentioned, the humanitarian situation is really difficult. We look at northern Gaza now
where we do see ethnic cleansing taking place. And that has got to stop.
In Lebanon, I think the Lebanese government is clear now it wants to implement Resolution 1701 so that should be implemented and saved. Again,
hundreds, thousands of lives that are being killed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: Well, CNN's Kylie Atwood joins us now from the State Department in Washington.
Kylie, this isn't the first time we've heard the Jordanian foreign minister being very vocal about the way that Jordan believes that Israel is
conducting its war in Gaza. But what is the United States saying right now about these latest accusations?
KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, listen, they aren't going as far as the Jordanians are in terms of their rhetoric, how
they have assessed what is happening with this ongoing conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. But U.S. officials have grown increasingly
critical over the last few months and weeks when it comes to the bombing campaign that Israel has carried out. They effectively told them that they
didn't want to see them carrying out those daily strikes in Beirut that we were seeing a few weeks ago.
Of course, those strikes in the Beirut area, southern Beirut have intensified again after there was a lull in those types of strikes. So U.S.
officials have been saying that the civilian death toll really needs to be examined when it comes to these strikes that Israel is carrying out and,
you know, one civilian death is too many civilian deaths, they say. Questions as to how effectively they can pressure the Israelis to change
their campaign abound because the Israelis have not in the past abided by what have been these private pressure points from U.S. officials.
And the secretary of state wrapping up his visit to Israel, Doha, and the U.K. today. It's unclear if he was able to actually catapult forward real
progress when it comes to the Gaza front, when it comes to the ongoing Hamas-Israel conflict there. He went in two these meetings himself and
President Biden saying that there was urgency, that there needed to be movement towards an end to the conflict there. And certainly there's some
indication that his meetings didn't happen in isolation because there's going to be follow-on meetings with negotiators when it comes to the Gaza
conflict this weekend in Doha.
The CIA director Bill Burns is going to be attending those. But real questions, real concerns that both Israel and Hamas are not ready to
effectively engage in those talks at this time for a number of reasons. Hamas, it's unclear to U.S. officials who's the decision-maker after the
death of Yahya Sinwar. And we also talked to U.S. officials who say that for Israel, they're unlikely to actually make any real commitments to a
pathway forward to ending the conflict in Gaza until they see what happens in the U.S. presidential elections, which is less than two weeks from
today, because they want to know who they're going to be dealing with on the other side of the phone, their U.S. interlocutors based on who wins the
elections in just less than two weeks from today.
GIOKOS: All right. Kylie Atwood, thank you so much.
Lebanese state media report that three journalists have been killed by an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon. Footage geolocated by CNN shows
piles of debris in the aftermath of the attack. It happened at an accommodation used by news organizations. Lebanon's information minister
called the strike a deliberate assassination of media workers. The Committee to Protect Journalists has issued a statement strongly condemning
Israel. Israeli's military says it is looking into the matter.
Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are both campaigning in Texas today.
[10:15:01]
Trump is expected to talk about border security again, while Harris be joined at a rally on abortion rights with Texas native Beyonce. On
Thursday, a parade of star names joined Harris in the swing state of Georgia. Former president Barack Obama, Samuel L. Jackson, Tyler Perry,
Spike Lee and Bruce Springsteen all headlining for her on the campaign trail.
(VIDEO OF BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN PERFORMING AT HARRIS RALLY)
GIOKOS: All right, CNN's Eva McKend following Harris's campaign for us.
Nothing to get voters galvanized with some stars and really good music. But I guess, you know, whether this is ultimately going to have an impact on
who goes out to vote and who they will vote for, and then importantly, you know, to what extent the policy messaging is playing a role, a bigger role
at the campaigns.
EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: They are certainly hoping to leverage those celebrities to get people to at least wake up and pay
attention to this contest if they aren't already. But the vice president, she's traveling to Texas today because she describes it as the epicenter of
abortion bans. The event will feature a family who's suing the state of Texas because of an inability to get lifesaving care.
Another family will be there as well. The mother of Amber Nicole Thurman. She died in Georgia due to a restrictive abortion ban, the family
maintains. And so they believe that in their closing argument, Eleni, focusing heavily on this issue is key because it is not an issue that falls
neatly along partisan lines. They believe that they can appeal to moderate Republican women, and independent women as well who are concerned about the
erosion of reproductive rights in this country. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS (D), VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Donald Trump still refuses to even acknowledge the pain and the suffering he has caused. He
insists that, quote, "Everybody wanted for Roe versus Wade to be overturned," which is just a further example of how out of touch the man
is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCKEND: And Eleni, part of the vice president's argument also includes trying to contrast herself with the former president by arguing he is
principally concerned about his enemies list while she has a to-do list for the American people. We'll see if that resonates.
Tonight she'll be joined by Beyonce and country music star Willie Nelson in Texas. And then tomorrow she's getting a boost from another Obama, former
first lady Michelle Obama will join her in Kalamazoo, Michigan -- Eleni.
GIOKOS: All right. Eva McKend, thank you so much for that update.
Coming up, North Korean troops could be closer than ever to fighting for Russia in Ukraine. Details coming up right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:20:13]
GIOKOS: Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow in contact with North Korea when asked about Russia getting military assistance from Pyongyang,
but Mr. Putin would not confirm or deny the presence of North Korean troops inside Russia and whether they would fight in Ukraine. The U.S. says
thousands of North Korean soldiers arrived in Russia for training this month.
A Ukrainian intelligence says some North Koreans was spotted in Russia's Kursk region seen here in orange, close to the frontlines.
CNN's Marc Stewart joins us now live to give us a reaction from both the Kremlin as well as Beijing.
Really good to see you, Marc. Importantly, the story around the North Korean soldiers being inside of Russia and the reaction. Could you give us
a bigger understanding of what this means? Of course the Ukrainians are speaking very loudly about this. And of course, Russia has also had a big
weekend itself because of the BRICS summit. So there's been a lot of geopolitical conversations that have been on the go, as well as economic
ones.
MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good to see you, too, Eleni. Let me just start by saying that even though it is late Friday night, we now are
actually getting a reaction from North Korea itself through North Korean state media.
Now, a military official isn't explicitly confirming the presence of North Korean troops in Russia with this potential deployment to Ukraine. But it's
not denying it either. In fact this official goes on to say that if this is the case, it is conforming with international law. It's following the rules
of the global stage. So that is what we are hearing from North Korea.
We're also hearing a very muted response from Vladimir Putin himself. He acknowledged that Russia is in contact with North Korea, but not so much of
the specifics, basically telling the rest of the world to mind your own business.
Let's listen to some remarks from Vladimir Putin that he made following that global summit you alluded to as it wrapped up on Thursday. Let's
listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): As for our relations with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, as you know, our
strategic partnership treaty was ratified only today. There is Article Four and Russia never doubted that the DPRK is serious about Russian
cooperation. But what we will do and how we will do it is our business.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEWART: Our business. Very much the response from Russian president Vladimir Putin.
As far as China is concerned, it's also trying to keep a hands-off approach as well, saying it has little information, but it is important to know that
China and North Korea have a relationship. Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, they have a relationship. China helps North Korea
economically and diplomatically. So China is certainly to some extent going to pay attention.
But to get to the point that you made, Eleni, why does this all matter? Well, China, Iran, Russia, and many others other nations all gathered in
Russia over the last few days for a global conference. And among the big themes was this idea, this need to create a new world order, an alternative
to the United States and some of the alliances it's formed with its allies, and that's why what's happening now is even more newsworthy.
But, Eleni, there is a lot of caution about this. These individual relationships with these individual nations that have formed and are
starting to form, obviously a big concern to lawmakers in the United States and then NATO on a more global scale.
GIOKOS: You know, and as you're saying this, Marc, we have this group photo, this family pick that was taken during the BRICS summit and it was
of course important because everyone is watching on to see, you know, what political and economic sway the BRICS will have at a global scale.
So really good to have you on breaking this down for us, Marc Stewart in Beijing. By the way, it's very late. I hope this is your last live hit and
you're going to enjoy your weekend. Tell me that's the plan, Marc.
STEWART: Thank you, friend. Always good to join you. My pleasure.
GIOKOS: All right. Cool. All right. So for more on the BRICS summit and we've just been discussing some of the ins and outs this entire week
frankly, we've got Gustavo de Carvalho, a senior researcher at the South African Institute of International Affairs and he joins me now live from
Pretoria, South Africa.
Gustavo, great to have you with us. We were just listening to our reporter talking about BRICS and sort of these ambitions to create an alternative
world order and so forth. But I want to break this down for our audience because we're seeing this group family photo of almost 40 leaders on stage
in Russia at a time where Russia, in many senses, is isolated.
[10:25:0070]
But tell me the difference between the BRICS countries, the BRICS Plus, and then the partnerships that actually exist, and the reality is not everyone
is part of BRICS that we saw on that stage.
GUSTAVO DE CARVALHO, SENIOR RESEARCHER, SOUTH AFRICAN INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS: Thank you very much, Eleni. And thank you for this
invite. And I think it is an important differentiation to make. Last year when here in Johannesburg, BRICS members decided that they would be
expanded and then inviting six new members and we see four new members of BRICS this year.
There was often a lot of confusion around, is this now a BRICS Plus? Is that going to change the name? What we do know is that BRICS continued with
its name as BRICS. They consider that to be a brand and they would like to continue calling that. BRICS Plus is actually something quite different. It
is an initiative that started in 2017 as an outreach of BRICS members to engage largely with countries of the global south.
And that provides them the opportunity to dialogue and to provide new ideas but since the expansion last year, many BRICS members have started looking
into more specific ways that it can engage in different initiatives within BRICS, but slightly more formally than what is within the BRICS Plus
format. And that what had members states have been discussing for the whole year. And they created a new category of countries called BRICS Partners
where 13 new members have been invited to participate within this group.
They don't have the same commitments that they would as if they had full membership, but I think particularly provides the new members and some of
the members that were not particularly excited with the idea of expansion last year with a bit more time and the same space providing this partner
countries access to the new initiatives that have been announced in recent years.
GIOKOS: Yes. So -- but it is also a balancing act, right? Because some of these countries also have a really good relationship with the West and they
don't want to dilute that by talking about, you know, completely disassociating themselves from the current monetary economic system. But
it's interesting because I want to show you some of the numbers. The BRICS bloc could hold quite a bit of sway.
Let's look at the figures. Members of BRICS represent nearly half of the world's population, make up nearly 30 percent of the global economy, by the
way, very similar to what we're seeing in the G7 on the world economy, on the economic impact on the GDP front. But you've also said yourself that
there is a lot of hyperbole that is involved in terms of what they can do and what impact they could hold on, you know, a global level. What do you
mean by that?
DE CARVALHO: I think it's an important point because when we think of BRICS and often the narratives presents that it's been a group entirely dominated
by Russia or by China. And I think particularly this year where Russia itself has that visibility of hosting the group. But when we look into --
in reality what BRICS members are, they're an incredibly diverse group of countries that tend to look into one another very much in terms of we know
we're very different, but we need to be able to agree to disagree.
If we're looking to the decision-making of BRICS that is entirely done by consensus. That tends to tamper a lot how the decisions are made. So
(INAUDIBLE) agree and if we look into the Kazan communique, the Kazan declaration that was presented two days ago, it is a much more nuanced
space where it doesn't really talk about creating a new global order. But rather much more clearly presenting a space in which BRICS countries would
like to have a more important role within the existing global order.
BRICS increasingly see itself not as a competitor of other groupings like G20, but as a complementary one, and it talks very specifically in the
declaration this year about this importance of better coordination between decisions made within BRICS and those decisions that are made in the G20.
GIOKOS: Yes. So --
DE CARVALHO: Noting that we have this eco-sector years of India, Brazil, and South Africa in the presidency of G20.
GIOKOS: Yes, that's a really important point. You know, interestingly, I attended the fifth BRICS summit in Durban, South Africa, in 2013. And I
remember seeing President Putin there and also remember just these ambitious goals that they'd put on the table, like creating a development
bank and even floating the idea of an alternative currency, an alternative system. But now at this point I wonder what the show of force means for
President Putin when he's being isolated in the West and what it means for everyone else on that stage and what they're trying to get out of it
because I think that one of the narratives that's coming out is the West should be afraid, you know, seeing all these leaders together because it is
a stronger global south.
[10:30:08]
DE CARVALHO: There is an important aspects to look into. And if we look into the geopolitical changes that we've seen in the last decades, for many
within the global south it became a much riskier space for them to operate and some of those risks related to the ability of trade, to the -- on
access to foreign reserves and to the fluctuations that we often seen in exchange rates and inflation that often provides a negative impact in many
of those economists.
For these countries then when they started to talk about cross-country payment systems, and when they are talking about increasing trading local
currency, we're not talking about de-dollarization. I think certain countries are countries like Russia, countries like Iran, for them, that is
a lifeline, that is the only way they can interact. But for most of the other countries, they would like to maintain their relationships with
Western countries and to reduce the risks of potentially reducing interactions, especially with China if the global geopolitical situation
becomes far more complicated.
GIOKOS: All right. Gustavo, great to have you on. Thank you so much for spending time with us today. Gustavo de Carvalho there in Pretoria.
Now, the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee wants answers and it wants them fast. Ahead on the show, what's concerning most to U.S. investigators about
a recent document leak. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GIOKOS: Welcome back to CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Eleni Giokos.
Donald Trump will spend the afternoon in Texas to talk to immigration one day after he pledged to launch the largest deportation program in American
history if re-elected. He will meet up with Senator Ted Cruz in Austin before traveling on to a rally in the swing state of Michigan.
On Thursday, Trump denied saying that his former chief of staff, John Kelly, claims including that he admired Nazi generals. Also Thursday, Trump
faced a new allegation by a former swimsuit model. Stacey Williams, accuses Trump of groping her in the 1980s.
CNN's Kristen Holmes joins us now.
Great to see you, Kristen. Look, Trump seems to be ramping up his rhetoric in the final days of the race.
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, he's certainly darkening the rhetoric and this is not surprising given the fact that Donald Trump
believes that this fear-based rhetoric particularly around immigration is what helped him win the White House in 2016. And there is a part of him
that believes it could help him win the White House in 2024.
So one thing to expect in these final days is no dialing back of this rhetoric despite the fact that we'll hear calls from various Republicans,
Democrats, independents saying that it is divisive.
[10:35:11]
It is polarizing. Donald Trump believes it is working for him. And if you look at the recent polling, there is reason to believe that he could be
correct. The polls have been tightening. They remain to be a neck and neck race and really no one can tell you who the winner is going to be.
So Donald Trump believes that this isn't harming him in any way. And in fact, it could be helping him as voters head to the polls. They've already
started voting from now until November 5th.
GIOKOS: All right. Also today, Kristen, Trump is set to sit down with high- rated podcaster, Joe Rogan. Why did the campaign work to make this happen?
HOLMES: Yes. I mean, this was one of their biggest achievement, they believe. It was basically the basically the crowning jewel of a strategy
that they have been really working on for the last year and a half. The idea being that they want to reach these low propensity voters. Many of
them -- low-propensity, meaning people who don't traditionally head to the polls. They believe that there is a huge contingency of these potential
voters that lean, right, that would vote for Donald Trump if they actually cast their ballot in November.
The way to reach them is not through traditional legacy media. It's not through a traditional rally in a swing state. Instead, they believe it is
through these various other channels like YouTube streaming, like podcast, that's why you've seen Donald Trump doing so much two of this untraditional
media during this election cycle. And really the king of all of that is Joe Rogan. He has more than 14 million followers on Spotify. He is consistently
one of the most popular podcast in the country, if not the world.
And Donald Trump's team has been working for a very long time to make this happen, I will remind you that the relationship between Joe Rogan and
Donald Trump publicly at least has not always been good during this campaign cycle. Joe Rogan said that all politicians on both sides were
manipulative, other than RFK Jr. The reason why that's notable is of course because RFK Jr. dropped out of the race and endorsed Donald Trump.
But one of the things I heard from people the day that it happened was that they were hoping that this would help with their efforts to a Joe Rogan
sit-down and ultimately now it is happening today.
GIOKOS: All right, Kristen Holmes. Thanks so much. A U.S. official and another source tells CNN federal investigators are homing in on where
leaked intelligence documents may have been printed. At least one of the U.S. documents was about Israel's preparations for a possible attack on
Iran. The documents were meant only for the U.S. and its closest allies.
Our Katie Bo Lillis joins us now from Washington for an update.
Katie, good to see you. U.S. official say it's not so much what the documents contained, but the fact that they were leaked at all. Tell us
more.
KATIE BO LILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's exactly right, Eleni. So the FBI has, which has been leading this investigation, has been really focused on
trying to identify where these documents were printed. Remember, they had won really big clue kind of right off the bat here, which was that at least
one of these two documents appear to have been printed possibly as part of a briefing book for a senior official, and then scanned and in black and
white and ultimately shared inappropriately on social media late last week.
This was really important for officials because the Pentagon actually tracks when staff print classified information. And in fact, they've almost
up that sort of internal surveillance as part of a general tightening of security measures after a 21-year-old Air National Guardsman, Jack
Teixeira, last year leaked reams of stolen classified material on an online platform Discord. So what my colleague Evan Perez and I are now told by our
sources is that the FBI is zeroing in on the government office where these documents were printed.
U.S. officials have been, as you mentioned, very alarmed by this leak, not so much because of the content of the two documents, both of which were
created by an agency of the American national -- or the American intelligence community that focuses on satellite imagery. Not too much
because of the content. We know of course that Israel has said publicly that they intend to retaliate against Iran but rather the fact that these
documents were leaked at all, became public at all at such a sensitive moment in U.S.-Israel relations.
Now, the pool of people for U.S. officials to be looking at here probably relatively small. We are told by our sources that even though these
documents were widely distributed across the U.S. government, wide access from people in the intelligence community and the Defense Department, the
number of people who would have potentially printed them probably very, very small. U.S. lawmakers very alarmed about this as well. And we heard
from the top Republican and the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee yesterday, who fired off a letter to FBI director Chris Wray
saying, and I'll quote, urging him to, quote, "act swiftly in the investigation and take immediate action to hold each individual involved
fully accountable."
[10:40:05]
GIOKOS: All right. Katie Bo Lillis, thank you so much for that.
And still to come the Menendez brothers and may soon be released from jail thanks to potential evidence brought to light. We look at the former boy
band member who could testify in the case. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GIOKOS: In California, it's nearly 30 years since brothers Lyle and Erik Menendez were sentenced to life in prison for murdering their parents. Now,
there's a possibility they will soon be released after an extensive reexamination of their case. The district attorney for Los Angeles County
says he'll recommend re-sentencing the brothers, making them eligible for immediate parole.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE GASCON, LOS ANGELES COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: They have been in prison for 35 years. They have been model prisoners by all accounts. Not
only have they worked on their own self-improvement, but they have known a lot of work to better the life of those around them, which is, that part is
unusual.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister is following the story for us from Los Angeles.
It's such a big case. I mean, one that people remember. The question is, why is it resurfacing now? And we just heard from the D.A., George Gascon,
that has taken an interest and clearly weighing in on next steps.
ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Yes. This is a case that has fascinated the public for 35 years, and there has been renewed
interest now because of a few Hollywood projects. The producer Ryan Murphy has a very popular show on Netflix, and there's also two recent
documentaries, one on Netflix and one on Peacock. Now, that Peacock documentary actually unveils a new allegation.
You'll remember that Lyle and Erik Menendez, their defense, they had always claimed that they were sexually abused by their father. They say that is
what led them to kill their parents. Now there is someone else who is also alleging that they were sexually abused by their father as well. Take a
look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROY ROSSELLO, BAND MEMBER, MENUDO: That's the man here that raped me. This guy. That's the pedophile.
WAGMEISTER (voice over): Roy Roselle, a former member of the boy band Menudo, alleging that he too was raped in the mid-80s by Jose Menendez,
then a top executive for RCA Records, infamously shot dead by his sons.
ROSSELLO (through text translation): I was in terrible plain for a week. I could barely stand the pain. I couldn't even move.
WAGMEISTER: This account, first revealed last year in a Peacock documentary, is part of the evidence the Menendez brothers included in
their petition to have their case re-examined.
ROBERT RAND, CO-EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, "MENENDEZ PLUS MENUDO: BOYS BETRAYED": The 1990s have caught up with the truth.
WAGMEISTER: Journalist Robert Rand is a co-executive producer of "Menendez Plus Menudo: Boys Betrayed." He uncovered Rossello's chilling account.
[10:45:01]
RAND: No other young man has ever come forward and said that he was raped by Jose Menendez. We believe that there might be other victims out there.
And we are hoping that they'll contact us.
WAGMEISTER: His documentary is one of several Hollywood projects about the Menendez case released since 2023, along with both a Netflix documentary
and a splashy drama from mega producer Ryan Murphy. Earlier this week, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon, up for re-election, told
CNN the publicity and renewed interest caused him to expedite his decision on the Menendez case.
GASCON: Given the public attention to this case, I've decided to try to come up with a decision earlier.
ESTER REYES, DIRECTOR, "MENENDEZ PLUS MENUDO: BOYS BETRAYED": It is satisfying to know that, for example, our documentary was cited as evidence
in the boys' habeas petition.
WAGMEISTER: Esther Reyes directed the Peacock doc and tells CNN Roy Rossello will testify if the court demands.
REYES: He's an incredibly credible witness. I interviewed him for hours. He's very consistent.
WAGMEISTER: Not everyone thinks the Menendez brothers, who admit to the murders, should go free. But celebrities like Rosie O'Donnell and Kim
Kardashian have led Hollywood's push for a renewed understanding of sexual abuse survivors today.
Docs like "Surviving R. Kelly" and "The Jinx" had real impact on the courts. Now, another Hollywood production aims to tip the scales of
justice.
RAND: Some of the Melendez supporters are saying, well, where was Roy Rossello 30 years ago when the brothers were on trial. But you have to
understand that some people are so ashamed of being abuse survivors, they take that secret to their graves.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WAGMEISTER (on-camera): Now Roy Roselle's account is one piece of evidence that was considered by the L.A. DA's office. The other piece of evidence is
a letter that they alleged that Erik Menendez wrote the year prior to the killings. In that letter, he wrote to his cousin that he was being sexually
abused by his father and suffering from it. So they say that those two pieces of evidence should be considered. And as we heard from the D.A.
Gascon, he agrees and has made that recommendation to a judge.
GIOKOS: Yes. A really fascinating story and the way that it's evolved. And of course the timeframe. Thank you so much, Elizabeth. Great to have you
on.
All right. I want to get you up to speed on some other stories that are on our radar right now. Georgians head to the polls Saturday in the
parliamentary election that will determine whether the nation moves politically closer to the European Union or moves towards Moscow. Critics
have accused the ruling party of seeking to restore ties with Russia while deliberately tanking its prospects of E.U. membership.
King Charles addressed the Summit of Commonwealth Nations by acknowledging a painful history. But he didn't directly refer to slavery in the
commonwealth's colonial past. A number of African and Caribbean countries are asking for reparations for hundreds of years of slavery.
And it is going to be a big weekend for baseball fans. The World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Yankees kicks off tonight
in L.A. The historic franchises have made in the fall classic a dozen times, but not recently. It's been 43 years since they were last together
and last few team standing. So it's going to be a big one tonight.
And if you've lived in Iceland, this is one of the most fascinating stories I would say. You could have had the day off, but the last we hear and we're
working. Still to come a new report on how the switch to a four-day workweek is working out. Here's a hint. It's working out quite well.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:50:31]
GIOKOS: GIOKOS: Archeologists in the ancient Roman city of Pompeii have announced a new discovery. A small home richly decorated with elaborate
frescos. And they say wall decorations are similar in quality to those found in more opulent houses. But unlike most homes at the time, it was not
built around a traditional Roman atrium. The dwelling is called the House of Phaedra, after the mythological queen of Athens.
Pompeii was buried by an eruption from nearby Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D. and was rediscovered in the 18th century.
All right, if you get an icy stare from your boss when you ask about a four-day workweek, just tell them it's working out great in Iceland. A new
report shows the country's shorter workweek is paying off on several fronts with an economy that's outpacing most other European nations, a low
unemployment rate and no loss in pay. And not to mention more balanced and less burnouts for employees.
We've got Anna Stewart joining us from London.
I love the irony of you working late on a Friday to bring us a story about a four-day workweek. How do you feel?
ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know how tempted I was to just leave and give you an empty seat for this? But this is a fascinating story. There
were two --
GIOKOS: I think it would have worked out well.
STEWART: Right. So there were two big trials in Iceland dating back to 2015. There were about 2,500 people involved and the results of these
trials showed that people that reduced their work hours but were paid exactly the same as they were before were just as productive and in some
cases more productive at most of the workplaces. And in addition to that people's well-being shot up significantly.
So ever since then, trade unions in Iceland have been negotiating contracts for people to work fewer hours but crucially for the same amount of pay.
Now whether or not we can call this, you know, a huge trial, it's more than half of the workforce, it's what normally tried at this stage, it's kind of
just reality. But interestingly, Iceland's economy is outpacing much of Europe. Unemployment is low so people are starting to look at this model
and being, hey, maybe this is the secret sauce.
But, Eleni, I think before everyone rushes out the door as it's kind of tempting to do on a Friday, you probably want to ask your employer, but
also, I think it's worth considering that Iceland's quite a different sort of economy to many. It's very, very small and it's also really focused on
things like tourism and services. If it had big factory output, I think people working fewer hours may not have so much of this sort of
productivity gains that they're seeing. Still fantastic story, absolutely love it, and many countries around the world, are experimenting with
different kinds of hours or different kinds of days in the week.
GIOKOS: Yes. I mean, may I just remind the audience and I actually just quickly checked in on this, remember during the global financial crisis, I
mean, Iceland took such a big hit. Some of its major companies had to -- and banks had to default and look where it's now, it's offering four-day
workweeks. I wonder what we're doing wrong in every other country. But I just find it really fascinating it's working out.
So what is -- we've got to ask the IMF. What is the IMF saying? Because, you know, there's a benchmark of all things good on growth.
STEWART: Well, in terms of the actual economic growth of Iceland, IMF has warned that economic growth will likely slow this year and next. And also,
I'm not sure we can pin all of Iceland's economic successes on the four-day working week. I think what we can say, though, it certainly not harmed
economic output at this stage.
I'm curious to see that a lot of the trials elsewhere in the world, for instance, here in the U.K., the trials have looked at reducing work to a
four-day week, but actually some squeezing the hours. So you do the same number of hours as a five-day week, but in four days for the same pace. So
different trials are trying out different things at this stage.
GIOKOS: Yes. I mean, you know what the other irony is? That you and me, Anna, this weekend are flying to Saudi Arabia to work an even longer week
because that's what you and I do. I don't know how we're going to convince everyone else for a shorter week because I'm just trying to even just do a
normal five-day week.
(CROSSTALK)
STEWART: We'll go to Saudi. We'll go to the Red Sea. We'll chill out.
GIOKOS: We can make those boards. Yes. Well, I mean, I'm going to go for five days initially, but anyway, listen, Anna, good to see you. I'll see
you soon in Saudi.
STEWART: See you next week.
GIOKOS: All right. And it's no virtuoso like the human Yo-Yo Ma, but a cello-playing robot made its musical debut last week with the Malmo
Orchestra in Sweden. Take a listen.
[10:55:10]
GIOKOS: All right. The mechanical maestro was created by combining industrial robotic arms and 3-D printed parts, and it was programmed with
musical school by Swedish composer Jacob Muhlrad.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JACOB MUHLRAD, COMPOSER: Musical notation is basically like code so my musical notation actually became, I would say, transcribed as code. So that
robotic cello was actually playing like instantly from the score rather than, you know, the interpretation that a musician makes out of the score.
And that was really interesting to see, you know, how a -- you know, how code, you know, kind of, was translated from musical score to a code, to
this robotic cello.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: All right. While the robot is a sophisticated machine, Muhlrad says it does not use artificial intelligence, but he says he's considering AI
for future projects.
Well, that's it for CONNECT THE WORLD. Stay with NEWSROOM, with Rahel Solomon. It's coming up next. I'm Eleni Giokos. Have a fantastic weekend.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
