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Outrage Grows After Hamas Releases Hostage Videos; Benjamin Netanyahu Asks Red Cross To Help Hostages In Gaza; Influencer Laura Loomer Takes Credit For High-Profile Firings; Donald Trump Promises New Labor Statistician After Bleak Jobs Report; American Woman Follows Deported Husband To Mexico; Desperate Effort To Save Ukrainian Soldier From Russian Attack; Spain Sweltering As Temperatures Soar Above 40 Degree Celsius. Small Business Claim They Are Owed Millions By Tesla Aired 10-11a ET
Aired August 04, 2025 - 10:00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:00:23]
ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN London, this is CONNECT THE WORLD.
CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Welcome to the second hour of the show. I'm Christina Macfarlane in London.
Israel's Prime Minister has asked the Red Cross to help hostages in Gaza. This comes as he faces growing pressure from within the country.
Firings within the Trump administration continue. A controversial far right activist is now taking credit for them.
And U.S. Envoy Steve Witkoff is expected in Russia this week, the Kremlin says they are open to a possible meeting between President Putin and
Witkoff.
We start with the Israeli government facing more intense pressure to bring the remaining hostages home. Protesters gathered in huge numbers in Tel
Aviv over the weekend, demanding their government reach a deal with Hamas. The anger magnified by Hamas propaganda video showing two emaciated Israeli
hostages.
CNN's Matthew Chance has more on that, and we must warn you, his report contains images you may find disturbing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The fragile figure of Evyatar David, one of the surviving Israeli hostages
still being held in Gaza, now 24 years old and just skin and bone.
I haven't eaten for days, he says, in this latest Hamas propaganda video, crouched in a tunnel.
Not enough food and barely enough water. Look how thin I've become, he says.
CHANCE: And this here is your brother, right here. This is two photos of him.
ILAY DAVID, BROTHER OF EVYATAR DAVID: Yes.
CHANCE: Family members have approved use of the images released at the weekend. But his brother Ilay told me he could only bear to watch a few
solitary frames.
DAVID: But that was a young, healthy man before he was abducted, even a bit chubby, and now he looks like a skeleton, a human skeleton buried alive.
That's how it looks. And I don't exaggerate.
CHANCE: Do you think he's being starved because there is a shortage of food in Gaza, would you think he's being starved intentionally by his captors?
DAVID: I'm sure he is intentionally -- I'm sure he's intentionally, cynically being starved by his captors. We know that his captors have
plenty of food. They haven't lost a pound, and they are doing the same to their own people, to the people of Gaza, they are starving them, although
they have food.
CHANCE (voice over): Israeli television, the newly released videos of emaciated hostages held captive since October 7th, 2023 are provoking
outrage amid calls for negotiations with Hamas to quickly restart, very quickly.
This is 22-year-old Rom Braslavsky, another Israeli hostage shown writhing in pain in his Gaza prison. There's barely anything to eat. I can't sleep.
I can't live, he says. His own mother, who approved the release of these latest horrifying images, say her son's weak voice sounds like he's
accepted he may never come out alive.
Now, hostage families are calling for renewed international pressure on Hamas, not just Israel, for the agony in Gaza to end.
DAVID: If they want the people of Gaza to starve, they'll do it, and they are the ones to blame, and we cannot -- we cannot blame only Israel for
that. Hamas is holding all of us hostages right now, all of us, the people of Gaza as well and they need to be out of the picture.
CHANCE (voice over): What I'm doing now is digging my own grave, says Evyatar David, as he scrapes the dirt in his cramped tunnel. Every day, my
body becomes weaker and weaker, he says. And time is running out.
Matthew Chance, CNN Jerusalem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MACFARLANE: The International Committee of the Red Cross says its aid workers are ready and willing to help the hostages, but they need a cease
fire first, getting one may be increasingly difficult. An Israeli official tells CNN that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is pushing for a military
victory over Hamas in order to get the hostages released. The Red Cross spokesperson talked to CNN Rosemary Church a little bit earlier and
explained the difficulty in getting help to anyone in Gaza at this time.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[10:05:12]
JACOB KUTZER, COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE RED CROSS: Since the onset of this crisis, we've made it clear publicly and to
the parties to the conflict privately that we're ready and prepared to do these visits. This is a core part of the ICRC's band aid, and it's a core
part of our global activity, to visit people who have been deprived of their liberty.
What's critical for us to do such a visit is to have the enabling environment. First and foremost, we need to be granted access to the party
by the parties. We need to be given that access in order to visit the hostages. We can't force our way in. We don't know where they are.
And so, we have said consistently that we need to be given that access. Once that access is granted, we have a methodology that we've -- that we've
used for many, many years, that that allows us to ensure that people are hopefully being treated consistent with their rights and consistent with
the obligations under the Geneva Conventions.
Unfortunately, we haven't been granted that access so far. So, what we're asking for, and what we have consistently said is to the parties
themselves, is reach an agreement, let us do this critical work. Because, as we can see, lives depend on it.
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Ryan, you mentioned that you're awaiting that permission to be granted. Hamas is now saying that it's prepared to deal
positively with any request by the Red Cross to deliver aid to these Israeli hostages, but only if humanitarian corridors are opened up in Gaza.
So, what is your response to that?
KUTZER: Well, the situation in Gaza is extremely volatile, the vast majority of it, 80 to 85 percent remains an evacuation zone or an area of
military operations. The remaining spaces is very densely packed with people who have been displaced, who have been forced to evacuate their
homes. The security conditions remain very, very difficult.
And so, what we need to know is for the safety and security of our own colleagues, that the environment in which they would be able to do such a
visit, if it were granted, and if the parties came to such an agreement, is one that we could ensure the safety of our colleagues as well as the safety
of the people that we seek to meet.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: CNN's Senior International Correspondent, Ben Wedeman is back this hour with us, live from Rome.
And Ben, we were just hearing from the Red Cross spokesperson there saying, quite rightly, that if they are going to help these hostages, they need to
be given secure access to do so. Hamas have been saying that they are open to allowing food and medical care to those hostages.
So, the impetus is on Israel, is it not, at this moment, to step up and enable that to happen, which is kind of in conflict with what we're hearing
now about the Israeli Prime Minister pushing to free the hostages through a military defeat of Hamas?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's what he said. And apparently, he wants to have a Cabinet meeting later this week
where he's going to go into the details of how he would pursue a military solution to the remaining -- the holding of the remaining hostages in Gaza,
around 50, 20, of whom it's believed are still alive.
So, it really is rather problematic. The way he's -- the prime minister has set things up, how it could possibly happen in the absence of a cease fire,
it would be very difficult for this the Red Cross to be granted access, to get access to the hostages, keeping in mind that until now, the Red Cross
has played a critical role in facilitating the release of the hostages.
But it's very unlikely that Hamas or the other groups that are holding those hostages will allow for access to the Red Cross under these current
conditions. Christina,
MACFARLANE: Yes, and all the while, of course, the starvation crisis in Gaza continues to get worse by the day. Ben, we'll have to leave it there.
Appreciate your reporting. Thank you.
Coming up, meet the pro-Trump influencer, armed with 1.7 million followers, her self-appointed mission and why she's frustrated with the White House.
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[10:11:37]
MACFARLANE: Texas Governor Greg Abbott has a warning for Democratic lawmakers who left the state, show up for work today or face being removed
from office.
On Sunday, House Democrats in the state legislature fled Texas in a bid to block passage of a Republican led effort to redraw the state's
congressional map. Republican lawmakers in Texas and across the U.S. are under pressure by President Donald Trump to revamp district lines in an
attempt to flip democratic seats ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. This move in Texas could have national consequences when it comes to deciding
which party controls the U.S. House of Representatives.
Well, Donald Trump seems to take loyalty to a new level, inside and outside his government. One influential supporter is attracting attention on the
digital landscape with her personal mission to root out the disloyal. Far- right activist Laura Loomer appears to have a direct line to the president, and she's taking credit for a slew of high profile firings within the Trump
administration.
Steve Contorno has spoken with Laura Loomer and with administration officials about the unofficial role she's taken on. He joins us now.
So, Loomer, as we were saying, 1.7 million followers on X and has taken on this sort of role of loyalty enforcer for Donald Trump. The catch is that
she's not actually in the administration, and yet she seems to wield this great power in decision making that goes on within the White House. How is
that?
STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: That's right, Christina, she is one of the more controversial figures in Donald Trump's orbit, but her influence is
undeniable. Like you said, she has 1.7 million followers on X, which is notable in itself, because she was once banned from Twitter over
disparaging remarks that she had made about Muslims and the conspiracy theories that she has put out there over the years.
But with this massive audience, she has cultivated quite a following for her to point out her what she calls research into Donald Trump's
administration and the hires in her efforts to find disloyal partisans within Donald Trump's government. And there's no denying that she has been
effective.
In the last week alone, the country's top vaccine regulator was let go, in part because of the stir that she had created surrounding him, also a top
national security lawyer and a cybersecurity expert who was supposed to get a post at West Point.
So, just showing, just in the last week, the extent to her ability to get the administration to let go of people that she identifies as partisans.
And when I talk to her, what's interesting is that she's not even triumphant about these victories, she's actually quite exasperated. She
believes that she -- the White House isn't doing enough to protect Donald Trump from people in his orbit who are not loyal to him. And she thinks she
should actually have a job in the White House, some sort of formal H.R. role, I guess, vetting some of these hires to make sure they are loyal.
And if you want to know just how high her influence goes. We'll take a listen to what President Donald Trump himself had to say about her.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What is your relationship with Laura Loomer? What kind of influence --
[10:15:02]
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Who?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: With Laura Loomer? What kind of influence does she have?
TRUMP: I think she's very nice. I mean, I know she's known as a radical right, but I think Laura Loomer is a very nice person. I've known her for a
long time.
And you know, personally, I think she's a patriot, and she gets excited because of the fact that she's a patriot and she doesn't like things going
on that she thinks are bad for the country. I like her.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CONTORNO: Now, Loomer made clear to me that she is far from done. She has also made a lot of hate lately about Attorney General Pam Bondi,
criticizing her over the details that have been released from the government over the Epstein file. She has also concerns about Robert F.
Kennedy, Jr., because of his past ties to the Democratic Party and whether and the people he is bringing in to the country's Department of Health and
Human Services.
One cabinet secretary, though, welcomes Loomer's advice, and that is Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Loomer telling me that she has spoken
directly to him about some of her concerns with his hires and the Pentagon in the U.S. actually confirmed to me these conversations took place,
telling me that Pete Hegseth, "Appreciate Laura Loomers outside advocacy." Christina.
MACFARLANE: Well, yes, I was going to ask you about that, Steve, because obviously Donald Trump there, you see him very publicly speaking out in
favor of her. I'm just wondering if that is a view shared within the Trump administration. Because to your point, you know she's been criticizing the
president as most as the MAGA faithful have been doing on not delivering on the promises of retribution from his campaign. So, how problematic could
she become for the president?
CONTORNO: Well, she's certainly a contentious figure, even within Trump's White House, and there are some people who are extremely loyal to the
president, who appreciate some of those efforts. You heard from what I just said about Pete Hegseth.
But many people quietly tell us, look, this is something that we just have to deal with, that someone on the outside has this much influence. It's not
something that they enjoy, but it's a reality that has become quite clear.
Because at this point, there's about a dozen individuals who have lost their jobs, in part because of the concerns that she has raised to her
audience, including the National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, someone who she has long criticized.
So, this is something that they have to contend with. And Donald Trump's White House has always been dealing with palace intrigue and firings and
sort of these personnel battles and who's up, who's down. And this is just one example of what happens when you outsource your vetting more or less to
a highly partisan, highly motivated individual on the outside, it's just constant headaches for this White House to have to deal with.
MACFARLANE: All right, Steve, appreciate it. Thank you.
Our senior political reporter Stephen Collinson has been examining the latest high-profile firing in the Trump administration. He's joining us
now. Good to see you, Stephen.
And we were hearing there, Stephen, Laura Loomer's actions are, I think, somewhat reflective at the moment of the wider movement within his
organization to be purging experts, professionals in various fields, be it universities, scientists, lawyers, who conflict with MAGA's views, but it
is stemming as you write in your article of CNN today, from Donald Trump's -- from Donald Trump's quest for omnipotence across society, and there
doesn't seem to be much holding him back or reeling him in in this moment, Stephen.
STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS SENIOR REPORTER: Yes, that's right, the biggest constraint on a president is the Congress. But Trump has bullied
the Republicans in Congress into submission, partly because of his great popularity with the grass roots Republican movement.
Another source of constraint is the courts, and while they have intervened in many of Trump's policy aspirations, slowing a lot of his executive
actions, courts are retrospective. What Trump has mastered is to take actions and create a situation which even a court ruling which says his
action was illegal, cannot reverse.
For example, the obliterating of the U.S. Agency for International Development early in his term. That's not coming back, and potentially no
new future president will be able to bring it back because of the political conditions.
So, I think Trump has been on a roll. One of the things that could slow him is an economic recession or crisis. That's one reason why this firing of
the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics is so important because it looks like Trump is trying to create a picture of the economy that is not true.
MACFARLANE: Yes. And just to speak more on that, I mean, what is the peril of there being a politicized official to head the BLS? You know, if that's
the move that Trump is about to implement?
[10:20:05]
COLLINSON: Well, America's economic success and its superpower as an economy has relied on the assumption that American economic statistics are
truthful, that the country is a beacon of stability in a world of volatile financial problems often, and that you can always see the U.S. as a safe
haven.
If companies and organizations and foreign countries cannot trust the economic statistics coming out of The United States, that is a real problem
and is going to start undermining U.S. competitiveness and the sense that it is the safest haven for people's money.
It's not just the jobs numbers. Those jobs numbers are used, for example, by the Federal Reserve to set monetary policy. Big firms use them to work
out whether they're going to hire, how much they're going to import.
So, if you start undermining that gold standard fabric, you start undermining the economy itself.
MACFARLANE: And if we're turning to what is happening today, Stephen, we were just talking about Democratic senators of Texas fleeing to various
parts of the country to avoid the redrawing of the Texas congressional map. I just wanted to get your thoughts on this moment, because gerrymandering
has gone on, you know, for decades, really, when it comes to these type of redrawings.
So, what is it that is different about today and this time around?
COLLINSON: Right. There's a long history in the United States of both parties drawing districts in states that benefit their particular set of
voters, almost like the parties are choosing the voters rather than the other way around.
What is different in the Texas case is that this process usually takes place every 10 years based on census figures. Trump came out a few weeks
ago onto the South Lawn of the White House and said that the Republicans in Texas, they control all of the legislature and the governorship, should
simply start with redrawing their maps and constituencies right now, because that could give him five extra seats in the House of
Representatives in the midterm elections next year.
The House is so evenly split, Democrats only need to win three more seats to take back the House of Representatives, that would give them the ability
to the point in your first question, to constrain the president in a way that the Republicans haven't.
If Republicans can pick up somehow five more seats in Texas, Democrats would need eight seats to take back the House of Representatives, and their
task would be a lot more difficult.
Add to the fact that you know, because of the gerrymandering that you talked about, the House is exceedingly polarized. There's only about 35
competitive seats in most elections, you know, in a House where there are 435 seats. So, a few seats here and there can make a huge difference.
MACFARLANE: Yes, and it does appear that the Democrats are somewhat hamstrung in this moment and many others to really know how to counter all
these sort of MAGA moves really.
Stephen, appreciate your analysis. Thank you so much.
COLLINSON: Thanks.
MACFARLANE: When her husband was deported almost a decade ago, Candice Sanchez Garcia, who is American, made a tough decision to give up her life
in the U.S. and move to her husband's native Mexico.
But recently, as the Trump administration wraps up its immigration crackdown, people have turned to her and her hugely popular TikTok page for
advice.
CNN's Rafael Romo has her story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARCIA SANCHEZ: Neither of us, I feel like, knew what to expect.
RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is what building a life together sounds like, a life she never imagined she would have.
GARCIA SANCHEZ: Candice Marie Garcia Sanchez. I'm originally from Utah.
ROMO (voice-over): In the countryside, surrounded by farm animals in far, far away from home.
GARCIA SANCHEZ: My husband was picked up by immigration. He did have a record in the United States, and he was set for deportation. We tried to
fight it for a little over a year, and at the -- towards the end of it, we made the decision that we were going to move with him instead.
ROMO (voice-over): You heard that right for Candice Marie Garcia Sanchez breaking Gup the family after her Mexican husband was deported nine years
ago was not an option, so she decided to leave everything behind and move with their firstborn to her husband's native country, where life is slower
and traffic jams do not necessarily involve motor vehicles.
GARCIA SANCHEZ: Fast forward to now. I feel like we're just living our happy lives and raising our children in a beautiful place, and we get to
just focus on our family. Thats, you know, what we always wanted.
[10:25:00]
ROMO (voice-over): Five years ago, she made a decision that has turned a traumatic deportation --
GARCIA SANCHEZ: Good afternoon from Mexico. My name is Candice, and in 2016, my husband was deported from the United States.
ROMO (voice-over): -- into a learning lesson. She now shares with the world by going public on social media.
GARCIA SANCHEZ: Overall, it has been an extremely positive experience for us. We've met. We've met so many incredible families that unfortunately are
in the same kind of situation or similar situation as us.
ROMO (voice-over): Her posts range from daily life in rural Mexico, where two other children were born --
GARCIA SANCHEZ: And today, when I went to the plaza, I found this beautiful girl.
ROMO (voice-over): -- to the hot topic of immigration.
GARCIA SANCHEZ: Now there's no getting around it. Deportation is political.
ROMO (voice-over): She may not live in the United States anymore, but Candice says she has continued to exercise her right to vote from abroad.
In a recent post on TikTok, she said she voted against Donald Trump, but makes it clear she thinks immigration is an issue. Both parties have
mishandled.
GARCIA SANCHEZ: I do believe that both sides have made promises that they haven't kept, even though I've lived in Mexico for eight years. I do vote
in every election.
ROMO (voice-over): She has been successful beyond her dreams. She now has more than 1.5 million followers on TikTok and growing. Meanwhile, her
husband, who worked construction in the United States for 18 years, focuses on building the home of their dreams. A farmhouse overlooking the fields
his family has owned for generations.
She left a comfortable life in the United States to join me in Mexico, Fidel says. Everything I do, I do it for her and our children.
The family is now looking forward to one of the most American of holidays, Thanksgiving. That's when they're hoping they will be able to move into
their new home.
Rafael Romo, CNN Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MACFARLANE: All right, still to come, an incredible rescue operation on the front lines. The Ukrainian soldier pinned down by Russian drones. A
creative thinking and a little luck helped him get out alive.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MACFARLANE: Welcome back to CONNECT THE WORLD with me. Christina Macfarlane.
Here are your headlines. An Israeli official tells CNN that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is pushing for a military victory over Hamas to free the
remaining hostages in Gaza. That word comes amid more protests in Israel demanding the government reach a deal with Hamas, after Hamas released a
video showing two emaciated Israeli hostages.
[10:29:55]
MACFARLANE: The governor of Texas is warning Democratic lawmakers who fled the state, to show off for work today or face being remove from office. On
Sunday, the House Democrats fled to other states in an effort to push back against a Republican that plan to redraw the Texas congressional map ahead
of the 2026 midterm elections.
An all-out manhunt is underway in the U.S. state of Montana, after deadly bar shooting which left four people dead. The suspect has been named as
Michael Paul Brown. Authorities say he is believed to be armed and dangerous.
President Donald Trump's foreign envoy, Steve Witkoff is expected to travel to Russia this week. That's according to the U.S. president, and now backed
up by Russian state media, citing anonymous sources. If Witkoff visits midweek, it would come just ahead of Trump's Friday deadline for Russian
President Vladimir Putin to agree to a cease fire deal with Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Ukraine says it hit Russian fighter jets and a weapons depot in a nighttime drone operation in Russia occupied Crimea. Drones have played a
vital role on the battlefield for both sides.
Now, CNN's Nick Paton Walsh reports, that includes the incredible rescue of an injured Ukrainian soldier pinned down by Russian attacks.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice over): This Russian assault brutal, even throwing land mines into the
bunkers had left all three of his fellow soldiers dead in the trench next to him. and Andre, with his leg wounded, unable to run, thought like so
many Ukrainian soldiers in tiny, isolated positions, pinned down by Russian drones that he was done.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (text): I didn't think I would get out of there. Because I couldn't move. My leg was seriously injured. I could not walk.
WALSH (voice over): But back at his command bunker, watching on drones, they had an idea. Maybe Andri had the strength to cycle out. So, they
attached an electric bicycle to a drone like this, moving it slowly, perilously in pieces to the front. It was dropped to Andri hole, and then,
remarkably, he cycled out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (text): I thought, do or die. Either I make it or I don't. I was just riding in one direction. If I make it, good. If I don't,
so be it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (text): Come on 'Tankist' speed up, speed up. As fast as you can, as fast as you can.
WALSH (voice over): The Ukrainians had tried to ensure the skies were free of Russian drones. But that wasn't enough, Andri hit a land mine. The drone
operators' heart sank. Had it all come to nothing? But then, this tiny figure emerged, limping out of the smoke, somehow alive, walking on his
bandage, leg visible.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (text): It gazed my forehead a bit. The wheel and fork were torn apart. But I was fine. I just fell on my side. That's all.
WALSH (voice over): Greeted by a Ukrainian and helped into another bunker, where he had to wait two more days for rescue. Necessity is the mother of
invention in Ukraine, but nothing can beat luck.
Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Kyiv, Ukraine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MACFARLANE: Absolutely extraordinary. Right?
Let's get you up to speed on some other stories that are on our radar right now.
President Trump says he ordered two U.S. Navy nuclear submarines, to "appropriate regions", after comments from Russia's former president,
Dmitry Medvedev. It's still unclear which American subs were sent, or exactly were. All three types of U.S. submarines are nuclear powered, but
only one carries nuclear weapons.
Beirut devastated in the blink of an eye. Five years ago, one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in history ripped through the city up ending
thousands of lives.
It was caused by tons of ammonium nitrates improperly stored at the port. The scars of that day still linger. Now, President Joseph Aoun says he is
committed to uncovering the full truth.
Chile's president says the last missing worker of a partially collapsed copper mine has been found dead, bringing the death toll to six. The
collapse occurred after an earthquake hit the area on Thursday. Prosecutors have launched an investigation into the collapse. And we're keeping a close
eye on Europe, where a heat wave continues to grip large parts of the continent, impacting millions of people.
In Spain, temperatures are expected to reach 45 degrees Celsius. In some areas, that's about 113 degrees Fahrenheit. All of this is further
heightening the risk of wildfires.
CNN's Pau Mosquera is following the story from us from Madrid. So, how is Spain preparing for this heat wave?
PAU MOSQUERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's a very good question Christina, because here, it's half past 40 in the afternoon, and the
monitor is already resisting 37 degrees Celsius, which is around 99 degrees Fahrenheit. So, how are people coping with this extreme hit? Well, many of
them have decided to stay indoors. Other ones have decided to go to big malls to cool off by the industrial air conditioning, and some others have
chosen places like the one that you can see behind me, the public parts of Madrid.
[10:35:03]
Here, though, right now, the water jets are off, here, we have some public water fountains where the kids gather around to enjoy and refresh
themselves by this extreme heat.
And we have seen over the morning and now over the afternoon, how many of them are having a lot of fun in here, though, it is recommendable to use
sun block, as the sun is also being very intense in the capital.
This second heat wave of the summer, Christina, just started yesterday, Sunday, and Spanish National Weather Service forecasts that it will last
until next Sunday.
Here, the temperatures, at least in Madrid, will hover around the 37, 38 degrees Celsius. But as you just said, in some parts of the country, for
example, in the south, in Seville or in Cordoba, the thermometer, the mercury can reach up to 45 degrees Celsius.
And it's important to say Christina, that actually the second heat wave of the summer has actually claimed its first victim. It was an 85 years old
male that was living in Puerto Mayor in the west of the country. That's why the authorities are recommending the population to stay cautious, always
hydrated with water, by this -- by their sides, and also to avoid exposing their cell -- themselves from the sun during the peak hours of the day.
Christina.
MACFARLANE: Yes, all definitely sensible advice. And to stay close to water in the main cities, like the scene behind you there. Thanks so much for the
update.
All right, still to come, Boeing share price down a bit after more than 3,000 machinists walked off the job overnight. More on Boeing's second big
strike in less than a year, straight ahead, in a live report.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MACFARLANE: Boeing is dealing with its second strike in less than a year after 3200 machinists walked off the job this morning. They work at three
defense plants, two in Missouri and one in Illinois. Union workers overwhelmingly rejected a four-year labor agreement on Sunday.
Now, you may remember late last year, 33,000 Boeing workers in the commercial plane division also went on strike. CNN Business Economics
reporter Anna Cooban is joining me now.
So, Anna, what seems to be the sticking points in these negotiations this time around?
ANNA COOBAN, CNN BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS REPORTER: Well, these workers really are unhappy with changes the company wants to make to their work
schedules. So, work life balance is a big issue here. I think, it really -- it's brought home by the fact they have essentially projected a 40 percent
average pay increase over the four-year life of this contract. So, that really gives you a sense of the magnitude of their opposition to this.
Now, as you mentioned, Boeing stock is down today because investors are frankly fed up with, yes, another piece of bad news coming out of the
company.
MACFARLANE: And how might this strike affect the company compared to the one that we just talked about a year ago?
[10:40:04]
COOBAN: Well, as you mentioned, it was 33,000 workers last year that was so much bigger in its scale and its scope. That was also in its aviation, its
commercial aviation business, which is a bigger deal for Boeing. There was seven weeks of strikes with losses mounting to the multiple billions, and
this was all over pensions and pay.
So, another piece of news about another strike with Boeing is the last thing that investors, that workers, and frankly, plane passengers want to
see.
MACFARLANE: And it's not the first piece of bad news for Boeing.
COOBAN: No. I mean, cast your mind back to 2018, we saw this huge crash with the 737 MAX plane model, followed quickly by one in Ethiopia with the
same model. That led to the grounding of the 737 MAX for 20 months, and huge financial losses.
So, between the second quarter of 2019 to today, there is been over $42 billion worth of losses.
MACFARLANE: So, how are Boeing responding to this? Have they made any statements yet?
COOBAN: Well, Boeing has come out to say that it thinks its offer to these workers are very, very fair to 3200 workers, and essentially that the
strike that is dealing with today is nowhere near the scale that it was experiencing last year. So, it appears to be a little more comfortable with
feeling the brunt of the impact of it today.
MACFARLANE: All right. Well, we'll wait to see how it plays out. Anna, appreciate it. Thank you.
Now, CNN investigation has found that Tesla, Elon Musk most famous company, has a pattern of not paying contractors who do work for them, even after
the work is completed.
Musk is, of course, the world's richest man, and while he may be known for his ruthless cost cutting approach, the companies going into business with
him are not expecting to be left unpaid. CNN's Kyung Lah went to Texas to follow the paper trail.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: How would you characterize what Elon Musk's company did to you?
JENNIFER MEISSNER, FORMER TESLA CONTRACTOR: It was devastating what they did.
LAH (voice over): They is Elon Musk Tesla, and then, it hired Jennifer Meisner's piping and welding company. But she says working for Tesla led to
her financial ruin. And a CNN investigation found dozens of small businesses like Meisner's claim, Tesla never paid them for work they did.
LAH: Is someone like you able to fight the world's richest man?
MEISSNER: No, no. I absolutely want to fight him, because we were in the right. And no small company can litigate against Tesla, you have to take
the hit.
LAH: So, this is where Meissner says all her troubles began at the Tesla giga factory here in Austin.
LAH (voice over): Independent contractors like Meissner built this sprawling factory.
LAH: Meissner says Tesla stopped paying her after she had already done the work here, owing her $1.6 million.
LAH (voice over): And she is not the only one. A CNN investigation found 97 other small businesses say Tesla owed them a total of more than $110
million in the last five years. Now, Tesla still owes more than $24.5 million in unpaid bills to some of those businesses for work already done.
We found most of the accusations against Musk's companies here in civil court in Austin, revealed in thousands of pages of documents.
What I am looking at are a number of liens. Now, a lien is an official document that says my company is owed money for work that has been done.
Most liens eventually get paid, but that's not always the case for Tesla.
A Houston fuel company claimed it's owed more than $2.6 million, saying Tesla conjures up reasons to not pay. That claim was recently resolved.
Another Texas company says Tesla ignored written notices and refused to make any payments. Tesla countersued.
An Austin company says it took out short-term loans when Tesla wouldn't pay it nearly $600,000 for work it had done and filed for bankruptcy. Those
companies ultimately settled with Tesla.
LAH: A $108,000. This one's $344,000. More than a million dollars cited here.
MEISSNER: It's a -- it's just a way of doing business at that point. It's not a one-off. It's not just the companies. It's everyone involved in that
company. That's a lot of people to disappoint and hurt.
LAH (voice over): Meissner had to take out short-term loans to keep her company afloat and went bankrupt. She eventually settled with Tesla in
court, and they agreed to pay her subcontractors $650,000. But Meissner herself wasn't fully paid.
MEISSNER: Material, rental companies, we had up to 60 men. The men is what hurt the most because they believed in us, because we were told it was
going to be paid. So, they worked for no money.
For me not to be able to pay them was difficult.
[10:45:08]
LAH: So, what does the red mean?
MEISSNER: Red means that we were still waiting for payment.
LAH (voice over): Court hearings and balancing her books now rules her day- to-day. She works two jobs to pay the debt and is trying to restart her company, Professional Process Piping.
Her main goal? Hold on to her home for her special needs daughter.
MEISSNER: The fear is losing it. The fear is having to give that up to be able to pay debt from the fallout of the bankruptcy.
LAH: How long do you think it will be before you're whole?
MEISSNER: I don't know if I ever will truly be whole for a very long time.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAH: CNN reached out multiple times to Tesla, but the company did not respond. Now, we did see that during the settlement with Meissner, Tesla
said that they were unhappy with her company's work. But Meissner says that she only ever received glowing reviews from Tesla before the bankruptcy.
We also compared Tesla with Apple to see how another big corporation with major construction projects in Texas compares in unpaid liens. Apple owes
contractors less than 10 percent of the amount in unpaid bills as compared to Tesla.
Kyung Lah, CNN, Los Angeles.
MACFARLANE: All right. TikTok is taking action after a beauty influencer with millions of followers posted extreme conspiracy theories about Israel.
We'll have those details ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MACFARLANE: TikTok has pulled a video posted by celebrity beauty mogul Huda Kattan, over its inflammatory anti-Israeli content. The influencer uploaded
a video accusing Israel of orchestrating a number of historic global wars and attacks, including September the 11th attacks on the United States and
the October 7th attacks on Israel.
Kattan has faced backlash online in the past, including threats from users to boycott her products over her outspoken criticism of Israel.
CNN's chief media analyst, Brian Stelter is with me to discuss this, and Brian, had his latest TikTok video was clearly conspiratorial, anti-
Semitic? But as a medium for information, she has drawn quite a following for her post specifically on the war in Gaza, which has been widely
followed.
What did you make of tick tocks move to police this and pull the video reasonably quickly?
BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: Yes, that's absolutely why it was a relatively rare move by TikTok. In recent years, there is been a move by
these social media giants to reduce the amount of content moderation they are doing. Basically, X, Facebook, you know, these platforms have been
allowing more of this content that is harmful, that is hateful, and they have been taking a less active role in moderation. Tik Tok, though it
continues to have what it says is a policy against harmful misinformation.
And it said in a statement, look, we seek to operate a shared set of reality and facts. We do not allow misinformation that call -- may cause
significant harm to individuals or society. So, that was the rationale for taking down this hateful video with anti-Israel conspiracy theories.
I think, TikTok, you know, feels the pressure from us and from other countries where it operates in order to do some level of policing.
[10:50:07]
So, the -- you know, here, we see a very clear line that was crossed, and now, there is pressure on Sephora and other companies that are business
partners of this mogul to maybe drop her products. And we'll see if that happens or not.
MACFARLANE: Yes, and it reflects, I think, a broader phenomenon of people seeking their news information via alternative sources, right? Such as
influences online.
STELTER: Yes.
MACFARLANE: The question is, whose job is it to police that information? Is it just on social media companies?
STELTER: Yes. And so much of this conversation about new media, it's about not replacing the news, but it's an alternative to news, because so many of
the popular video feeds, TikTok influencers, so many of the kind of the new outlets that people consume on their phones, they are not actually in the
business of original news production. They are an alternative. They provide opinion or point of view or perspective or entertainment. You can see in
some of these graphs we'll put on screen how popular some of these alternatives are becoming. You know, you see the data points in these
slides showing television and print, of course, declining as social networks have been growing in recent years, as well as podcasts, video
channels on YouTube, digital news sites, et cetera.
You know, there is another graphic it shows showing the proportion of people that say social media is their main source of news. And across the
world, in many different countries, those lines just keep rising. In some cases, though, people are just getting information from old fashioned
sources in new ways. In other ways, as I mentioned, it's really becoming an alternative. Right?
People seeking out voices they trust, influencers they trust. But, you know, I think this recent story about TikTok illustrates the limits of that
power. And how these social networking platforms, they still do feel some responsibility to engage in some content moderation, even though, as I
said, in recent years, they have -- they have outsourced a lot of that to A.I. or to community notes, or other features like that.
MACFARLANE: Yes. I think, part of the problem with social media companies is that a lot of them have become sort of unreliable arbitrators themselves
of providing news content. And, you know, I say that the likes of you know, X, since the musk takeover in 2022 has become increasingly more right-wing.
And this is really in opposition to the more traditional forms of news. You're talking about, the -- perhaps T.V., print media and who are more on
the left. So how is that shifting people's ways of thinking about the news?
STELTER: Right. There is two dynamics that I see going on. One is, well, we all grow up learning about our diet, that you are what you eat. You know,
we all grow up being taught about a healthy diet, about having a variety of fruits and vegetables and all the rest. And there is a very similar dynamic
in the media world nowadays, where we are gorging on certain content that might make us feel good, that might be entertaining, but as a result, it
influences the algorithm, and we end up getting really low quality, non- nutritious content. You know, that certainly applies in the news realm.
The other dynamic I see happening involving algorithms, you know, is that people expect the news and information to come to them. They are becoming
less accustomed to going seeking out sources, going out and seeking out a wide variety of sources of information. And again, that takes us back to
the media diet so to speak. You are what you eat. And I think we'd all benefit from remembering that as we're scrolling through. Whether we're
doom scrolling or hope scrolling on our phones, we'd all do better to remember that we are what we eat online.
MACFARLANE: Yes, we don't exist in an echo chamber. Just one last point, as you mentioned A.I., I think just a minute ago. It's interesting -- I was
reading earlier that A.I. chat bots for people to get the news is on the rise and is twice as popular among the under 25s. Just what your thoughts
on that are. And also, whether or not you think the younger generation are perhaps more set up to fact check and to be aware and to educate themselves
about what they are seeing online.
STELTER: I think there is this expectation that these chat bots will have every answer to everything. And that's not actually the reality when you --
when you go down and when you ask all those questions, when you check and see if the facts are reliable. Now, some of these big AI companies, they
are striking deals with outlets like the New York Times and other sources in order to have real time facts coming into the large machine models, in
order to be able to have more reliable answers.
But these models are still far from perfect, and you know, this is why we've seen, I think in many cases, a backlash in schools and in university
settings, and at law firms against the use of these chat box actually generate content and to generate answers.
But, you know, at the same time, I go back to you are what you eat. We have to be experimenting and trying these models and learning what they do,
learning their limits, learning their power. And that's where young people maybe are an advantage, right? That they are more -- they're more willing
maybe to try out this Technology.
[10:55:01]
But everybody of all generations are going to benefit from at least experimenting and knowing how these tools work, and thus how they also
sometimes don't work.
MACFARLANE: Yes. Experiment safely. That's the message, isn't it? Brian.
STELTER: Right.
MACFARLANE: Always great to chat to you. Thank you.
STELTER: Thanks.
MACFARLANE: Now IHOP is jumping on the Dubai chocolate craze with pancakes that it says are worth over $100. The Lux Dubai company -- Lux Dubai
Chocolate Pancakes have pistachio and hazelnut flavors. They are topped by a whole bar of Dubai chocolate and even real gold flakes. IHOP says the
pancakes are worth over $100, but they'll be given away for free to the first 25 diners at three restaurants. Once they' are sold, customers can
order a simpler version of the dish for $13. But that one comes without gold flakes.
Dubai chocolate is sweeping the world after this viral TikTok.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: This video has been viewed over 56 million times, and seemingly gave the world a taste for the viral treat. It was first introduced in
divine 2021, but now you can find it around the world, and I still have not tried it yet. But I'm a -- I'm a lemon and sugar kind of crap girl,
personally.
That's it for CONNECT THE WORLD, stay with us on CNN. "ONE WORLD" is up after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
