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Israeli Security Cabinet Approves Plan to Control Gaza City; Trump Waffles on Whether Russia Sanctions Deadline Stands; Trump's Rose Garden Revamp Matches Mar-a-Lago Setup; Trump Nominating Loyalist Stephen Miran to Fill Fed Seat; Mboko Caps Dream Run with Final Victory Over Osaka. Aired 9- 9:45a ET

Aired August 08, 2025 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: Will President Trump stick to his sanctions threat or save face ahead of a meeting with Vladimir

Putin? It's 09:00 a.m. in Washington, it's 02:00 p.m. here in London, and I'm Christina Macfarlane, this is "Connect the World". Also coming up,

Israel approves a plan to fully take over Gaza City.

Now they're facing sharp criticism from the world and at home. And the Texas Governor says it's time for those Democratic lawmakers who ran off

rather than to vote to come home. But will they listen? And the stock market in New York opens in about 30 minutes from now.

U.S. futures are moderately higher after a mixed Wall Street close. Investors are digesting Donald Trump's Fed Board of Governors nomination

alongside a quieter day for corporate earnings. Israeli Security Cabinet's approval to take military control of Gaza City is sparking outrage inside

Gaza and Israel.

And world leaders are condemning the plan. Just ahead of the cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he wants a total takeover

of Gaza. We'll have the global reaction in just a few minutes, but first, protests have been erupting inside Israel. Families of the remaining

hostages say expanding military operations in Gaza is effectively a death sentence for their loved ones, calling the decision a colossal catastrophe.

Hamas says an Israeli occupation of Gaza would amount to a war crime, and would mean sacrificing the hostages. Palestinians say the level of

destruction after 22 months of war makes further military occupation pointless.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAHMOUD AL-QURASHI, DISPLACED PALESTINIAN: Netanyahu's decision to occupy Gaza. It's like there's nothing left to occupy in the first place. We're

already dying. At this point for the people, there's no difference anymore whether he occupies it or not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: Oren Liebermann is in Jerusalem for us. Oren, what more can you tell us then about this timeline to occupy Gaza City and when this might

begin?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: The Israeli military at a state just a short time ago, a couple of hours ago, saying it will advance

plans for what will be the beginning of this operation. It doesn't start with military attack, which we've seen so many of over the course of the

past 22 months. Instead, it starts with forcing the evacuation of Gaza City.

Up to a million Palestinians who live there will be pushed to the south of the sea territory. At the same time, Israel will build up and expand the

humanitarian aid distribution effort, but Israel has made clear it will only be outside Gaza City as a means potentially of making Palestinians who

want to get food, who want to get aid, leave Gaza City and potentially stay out.

Israel will then begin the military part of the operation sometime on October 7th, afterwards the deadline for evacuation of the city. The

military operation will involve declaring Gaza City a closed military zone, and then it's potentially an intrusion in the Gaza City itself. That's this

operation begins is anticipated last some four or five months, according to Israeli officials with whom we have spoken.

And one of the key elements to note here is in a security cabinet meeting that lasted some 10 hours, there was a severe disagreement between the

country's political leadership that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as far right elements of the government and the professional

leadership of the military chief of staff, who tried to warn repeatedly over the course of the past week that such an operation would endanger

soldiers.

It would endanger the hostages themselves, or believe to be held in these areas. On top of that is the international reaction which we've already

seen, and the very, very real possibility of worsening what is already a humanitarian crisis and cases of starvation we've seen in Gaza in recent

weeks and months.

MACFARLANE: Oren, in stating his attention to occupy just the Gaza City. Is the prime minister, in effect, here, perhaps walking back his statement

earlier about the occupation of the entire of the Gaza Strip?

LIEBERMANN: The short answer is, we're going to have to wait and see on that one this they approved overnight, early this morning, could be the

beginning of a full takeover of Gaza. Would be a full military occupation of the entire devastated territory.

Or you're right, Netanyahu could have made a statement about a full takeover of Gaza for his own political needs, and then when it came to

actually approving what the military will do, that has been from what's approved so far, somewhat narrower in scope. What is the long-term

intention here?

[09:05:00]

There hasn't been a clear statement in terms of what's approved by the government, from Netanyahu. But the intention here is clear. This is an

escalation of war. This is a takeover of more of Gaza. And keep in mind, Israel's military already controls 75 percent of it.

So, there isn't all that much left here, but they're pushing forward with this in the face of that international criticism, Christina, make one last

point here. President Donald Trump, just a couple of days ago, said Israel could pretty much do what it needs to do in Gaza, and that is probably the

only green light that Netanyahu needed to push this forward.

MACFARLANE: All right, Oren, this is obviously a developing story. We'll leave it there for now. Thank you. Well, Israel's plan has been met with

condemnation from much of the international community. The U.N. Human Rights Chief has called for the planned takeover to be immediately halted,

saying it defies the 2024 International Court of Justice order for Israel to take all measures to prevent genocide in Gaza.

Numerous countries have expressed concern. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said his nation is trying to secure peace as part of a two-

state solution earlier on BBC, the British Minister of Energy consumers urged Israel to reconsider.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIATTA FAHNBULLEH, BRITISH ENERGY SECURITY AND NET ZERO MINISTER: We think that the decision is the wrong one. We think it will escalate an already

intolerable situation and will lead to more bloodshed. And so, you know, we are hoping that the Israeli government will reconsider.

And you know, for us, the priority continues to be, you know, we've got to find a route to a ceasefire. We've got to get humanitarian aid into Gaza.

There's no one that can see the images and not be absolutely heart wrenched by them. And we've got to get the hostages out.

And the focus of the prime minister, the focus of the foreign secretary and all our allies, will be on a pine as much pressure as we can to all parties

in order to achieve those outcomes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: Well CNN's Melissa Bell is following international reaction, joining us here from Paris. And Melissa added to this in the last hour or

so, Germany has reportedly halted its export of arms to Israel for field use. To expect other countries may follow suit.

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I think it's a big shift and an important sign, and there could well be others behind it.

Remember that Germany really has been Israel's staunchest ally, certainly here in the European Union over the course of this war, ever since October

7th in its beginning, really very firm in its commitments to how far it is willing to go in backing Israel.

Even as others have sort of peeled off some of their support and measured some of their support that they were bringing to Israel as the war has

progressed and the devastation of Gaza has continued. So, Germany making this announcement. This was Friedrich Merz Chancellor, saying that it would

take this pretty big step.

I know that there's been a lot of anger expressed in Israel as a result, so I think it's an important, strong signal. But there has been universal

condemnation, if you put aside Donald Trump's President Trump's what he had to say a couple of days ago about the fact that Israel could pretty well do

what it wanted.

The rest of the world is fairly united. On the very other side of that, from Beijing through Ankara, through the European Union and up to the U.N.

as you say, in the shape of its human rights chief, it is time that this stops immediately. He suggested Volker Turk, because it is not in line with

international law.

And in fact, international law is about making this two-state solution happen. This, he suggested, was contrary to that and needed to cease

immediately. So fairly universal condemnation, with many countries really looking to see how they can go further to bring pressure on Israel that it

should rethink this plan, Christina.

MACFARLANE: But aside from Germany, here really, all we're hearing is rhetoric these condemnations. Do we expect any of this to have any real

impact as we sort of look ahead to that October 7th deadline now?

BELL: Well, what we've seen so far over the course of the last nearly couple of years now is that there's been very little in to suggest that

international condemnation or pressure has made the Israeli government bend in any particular way. It appears to be much more firmly in the hands of

its more far right elements, and decided to plow on with an ever more radical course when it comes to Gaza, ignoring really international

condemnation.

And I think what it's shown so far over the course of this war, Christina, is that as long as it has the backing of Washington, and on this it appears

to have it once again, there's very little that anyone can do about it will be interesting to see what, how many other countries follow Germany's lead

in terms of weapons.

It's probably one of the only tangible ways that Europeans can bring real pressure to bear, not just words, but actually making it harder for Israel

to prosecute its war.

MACFARLANE: All right. Melissa Bell in Paris, for now, thank you. We're turning to a potential ceasefire talks in the war in Ukraine now. The U.S.

President now says his sit down with Vladimir Putin is not preconditioned on Putin holding face to face talks with Ukraine's leader afterwards.

[09:10:00]

Take a listen to this exchange with CNN's Kaitlan Collins.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I think --

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Sir, for you to meet with him, he doesn't have to agree to meet with Zelenskyy. Is that what

you're saying?

TRUMP: No, he doesn't. No.

COLLINS: So, when do you think that meeting --

TRUMP: They would like to meet with me, and I'll do whatever I can to stop the killing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: CNN's Chief International Security Correspondent, Nick Paton Walsh is joining us from Kyiv and Alayna Treene is at the White House.

Nick, to you first. I mean, none of this really is a good sign for the Ukrainians. Is it?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: No, and they appear to have now seen the narrative shift from harsh sanctions

today, bringing the pain that Trump said he would inflict upon Russia and its key Energy customers, essentially India and China.

To a story now that is about will Putin and Trump meet Zelenskyy's involvement in that, as you just heard, not a precondition. We've been here

before to in May, where a similar trilateral summit was proposed in Turkey, and Putin decided not to attend, despite Trump making clear he would be

there to facilitate anything.

So yes, it's a key day. Certainly, we don't have a date yet. We don't have a location Russian state media floating potentially an Arab country as a

place where that bilateral summit could occur. We do, in the background, though, have some interesting signals about a ceasefire potentially being

floated.

Polish President Donald Tusk having to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, both men suggesting that maybe some kind of ceasefire or peace

is nearby. Is that what a bilateral summit between Trump and Putin holds out as progress for a few days? Who knows? We also know that Putin has

spoken to Chinese Leader Xi Jinping, and Xi Jinping has said that he was pleased that U.S.-Russian relations improving.

So, there may be something happening in the background pushing diplomacy actually forwards here, but just a reminder, we've been exactly this place

back in May where the Europeans came to Kyiv, France, Germany, United Kingdom and Ukraine and Poland stood together and demanded an unconditional

ceasefire from Russia and said that if they didn't get that, there would be harsh sanctions.

They even showed pictures of them on the phone to President Donald Trump, apparently getting his consent to that plan. Russia rejected it. Trump

didn't follow through with the sanctions. It fell apart then. So, we could be looking potentially at a similar scenario here, although this White

House's tone has significantly changed in result to a Russian President, Vladimir Putin.

So, a key day here, certainly, and one I think, where there are many concerns in Ukraine that we're yet again seeing a moment of pain for Russia

being bypassed in favor of better relations between Washington and Moscow. And nothing concrete yet at all, particularly nothing concrete that

suggests Ukraine will be at that table, and Ukrainian peace or ceasefire will be the key tenant of those talks, Christina.

MACFARLANE: Yeah, Nick, thank you. Alayna, I mean, picking up on Nick's point there about what is going to be different this time around. What are

you learning about the upcoming summit and what conditions President Trump might accept if indeed, there is no ceasefire on the table?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, that's, I think, a key question still, and it's been clear, Christina, that there are some gaps

between what we are now hearing from the Russians as well as what we're hearing or compared to, I should say, from what we're hearing from the

Trump Administration.

You know, many officials here are saying potential summit is not finalized, that we're hoping it could be next week, maybe in the next two weeks. I

would argue that, that timeline, and we're hearing that from officials here as well, is pretty logistically challenging to make something like this

happen so quickly, but they are committed to trying and have President Donald Trump sit down face to face with Russian President Putin.

And again, as Nick mentioned, we have heard some locations thrown out by the Russians as well. From our conversations here, they're saying nothing

has been decided. It's unclear where this could be held. I do know that after we had heard President Donald Trump raise this potential summit on a

call with European leaders earlier this week.

I'd note Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was on that call as well. Officials here immediately began trying to plan for something like this.

Now, I think, and Nick pointed this out as well. Today is such a crucial day to see what the president will actually do, because he is facing down

his own self-imposed deadline to have it be the day that Russia either makes an agreement and ends the war with Ukraine.

Obviously, something that seems very much unlikely at this point, or face severe economic punishment with the sanctions and tariffs that the

president has threatened. We did hear earlier this week that the president renewed some of those threats to put this pressure on the Russians and to

impose these sanctions.

But then he seemed to back off of it a bit. Yesterday, he was asked specifically whether or not this deadline would still take hold, whether

these new measures would take hold, and he essentially told reporters it's going to be up to Putin.

[09:15:00]

And so, it does seem like this potential meeting now between the two leaders could really decide whether or not the administration, the Trump

Administration, moves forward with those sanctions and those tariffs. I will note from my conversations here, the rhetoric we have heard from the

president in recent months is very different from that earlier this year.

He is definitely far more increasingly frustrated with Putin than he has been in the past. He's consistently saying publicly and privately that one

of the key things that gets under his skin the most when it comes to his conversations with the Russian President is he says one thing to Trump on

the phone and then does another with his actions.

And so that is still very much where President Donald Trump is but at the same time, that idea of potentially being able to be the one to broker

peace between these countries is still an ultimate goal of his, and if he can sit down with Putin and potentially think that, that will lead to some

sort of progress, it is something that the president still wants to do.

MACFARLANE: Yeah.

TREENE: So, we're still waiting to see exactly what will happen. But again, whether or not they actually act today with some of those sanctions is

going to be a very good test to see whether or not this meeting will actually move ahead.

MACFARLANE: Yeah, we'll certainly be looking at that. Nick, just briefly. I think the concern about this meeting is that it is being brokered on

Vladimir Putin's terms. What is the danger of this moment to Ukrainians? If you know this, any decisions or anything that comes from this meeting is

not substantial enough to halt the war, given the moment we are in right now on the front lines, that summer insurgency happening, the summer

offensive happening with Russia on the front lines?

WALSH: Yeah, let me really about time here, if Russia is able to drag Trump back into its way of thinking like we've seen in the past, to echo their

narrative, to sour on Kyiv, that could buy them potentially time. Look secondary sanctions aren't suddenly going to stop Russia's summer offensive

overnight, maybe a ceasefire could be something that Trump could push Putin into.

But there has to be immediate, has to be real. It has to be effective to stop Ukraine across the eastern front line being in a very precarious

position in key Eastern towns Pokrovsk, Kostyantynivka, Kupiansk, all places really in peril right now that Russia could potentially seize in the

weeks ahead.

So, it's ultimately about immediate impact and not allowing Putin to continue militarily with his current trajectory on the front line until

October, November, when winter may slow things down. Trump has promised the secondary sanctions. It's been in the pipeline for months now.

Do we see them really hitting China and India already potentially suffering in the weeks ahead, hard today, or does the Kremlin get to hold out for a

few more weeks, Christina?

MACFARLANE: All right. Nick Paton Walsh in Kyiv and Alayna Treene at the White House. Thank you both so much. Right, still to come, Texas State

Attorney General is threatening aggressive legal action against Democratic lawmakers who fled the state if they don't return today.

A report on the very latest from the State Capitol is ahead. Plus, if I say the word rose garden, you probably imagine lots of flowers and grass. Well,

that's no longer true if you are at the White House.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:20:00]

MACFARLANE: We are keeping a close eye on political standoffs in Texas. Today is the deadline for Democratic lawmakers who fled the state to return

to the State House in Austin. The State's Attorney General plans to declare their seats vacant, and he's threatening aggressive legal action if they

don't return today.

Democrats say they fled Texas on Sunday in order to block a crucial vote on congressional redistricting that could allow Republicans to gain as many as

five U.S. House seats currently held by Democrats in Texas. Well CNN's Ed Lavandera is joining us from Texas, where he has been following this story

for days.

So, Ed, what more can you tell us about what will happen to these lawmakers if they do not return to the State Capitol?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's not quite clear yet, because there's going to be a huge fight if it gets to

this in the courts about how this will ultimately be handled. But we are almost a week into this political saga.

Democrats have still not come back to Texas as they continue trying to block this controversial redistricting bill, but the Governor and Attorney

General, both Republicans are working in different avenues in the courts, as they say they are attempting to try to remove these renegade Democrats

from office.

Governor Greg Abbott is specifically targeting the Chairman of the Democratic Caucus in the Texas House. He's asked the state Supreme Court to

remove him from office. That representative is Gene Wu from the Houston area. He says that the governor is trying to use the legal system to and

weaponize it to go after his political opponents.

Democrats generally don't feel like the Republicans here have a leg to stand on in terms of their legal tactics in all of this, but the Attorney

General is also threatening to continue moving into the courts if the Democrats don't return here to Texas this afternoon.

The Texas House is going to try to gavel into session here in a few hours, and it's expected that the Democrats will not be here once again, and this

is what both sides are saying here right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. GREG ABBOTT (R-TX): We do expect a quorum to be coming sometime soon, but listen, if it's not, we're not afraid, because a special session lasts

30 days, and I will be calling special session after special session, and we are going to get these maps passed, regardless of how long the Democrats

hold out in these leftist states, like Illinois, New York and others.

REP. JAMES TALARICO (D-TX): They are literally threatening to remove the people's representatives from office. And so, this is a page out of an

authoritarian playbook we've seen in other countries. They may be coming for Texas Democrats now, but if this continues, they eventually come for

all of us.

ABBOTT: The Democrats always come back. It could be tomorrow, it could be next week, it could be next month. They're going to come back, or we'll be

able to track them down one way or the other. They're coming back. And it's going to end with these maps being passed.

And you know what I'm thinking now is, if they don't start showing up, I may start expanding. We may make it six or seven or eight new seats we're

going to be adding on the Republican side.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: So, you know, there's threats and the escalation of the political rhetoric here, Christina, only continues to intensify. The U.S.

Senator from Texas, John Cornyn, has asked and says he's gotten his request granted by the FBI to go out and try to -- and find Texas Democrats that

are not here at the State Capitol.

But it's not exactly clear if they're going to be doing that in Chicago, where many of these Democrats are, there is a group of them going to

California to meet with the governor there today. But all of this just really continues to intensify. And how it all ends just isn't clear quite

yet.

And Democrats, you know, obviously many will privately acknowledge that they will not be able to stay away forever, and that they do acknowledge

that, you know, the governor and Republicans have the votes here to eventually pass this redistricting bill, but they're trying to make it as

difficult as possible clearly, Christina.

MACFARLANE: Yeah, and regardless of how this plays out, we know obviously it's going to have national implications. Ed Lavandera, for now, appreciate

it. Thank you. Now the latest stage of President Trump's rose garden redesign has it a lot looking more like his Florida home.

This is the latest look at the historic White House space. The new white stone patio is now home to several sets of white tables and chairs, each

with yellow striped umbrellas. The setup looks very similar to what the president has on the patio at his Mar-a-Lago club down in Florida, down to

the yellow umbrellas, you'll notice, but minus the surrounding water and palm trees.

[09:25:00]

Well, the iconic spot had a lot more grass and green before the renovations, as you can see here on the left. But that's why the president

says he's insisted on a change, because the grass was muddy and unsuitable for events after rain.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We're getting great reviews on the Rose Garden, and we had to do it. As an example, when we had a press conference, you'd sink into the mud and

it was grass and it was very wet, always wet, damp, but wet. And if it rained, it would take 3, 4, 5 days for it to dry out, and we couldn't use

it for really the intended purpose.

And it's a beautiful white stone and it's a stone that's the same color as the White House itself, and because it's very white, it's going to reflect

the heat.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: Reflect the heat. Well, the cost of the renovation has not been disclosed, but it was paid through private donations reportedly. President

Trump may be feeling rich with billions of dollars in tariff money flowing in. He's even thinking about sending checks to American consumers.

Why economists say that could be dangerous? Work on a controversial Detention Center in Florida, Everglades hits pause. What's next for

Alligator Alcatraz, after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACFARLANE: Welcome back. I'm Christina Macfarlane in London, and you are watching, "Connect the World". These are your headlines this hour. Israel's

Security Cabinet has approved a plan for the military to control Gaza City. Ahead of the cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the

goal is a full military takeover of Gaza.

Hamas says the Israeli plan amounts to a war crime and would mean sacrificing the remaining hostages in Gaza. U.S. President Donald Trump

says a meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian Presidents is not a precondition for his own meeting with Vladimir Putin, which could happen as

early as next week.

A U.S. official had previously said Mr. Trump likely wouldn't meet Putin without a corresponding summit with President Zelenskyy, but the Russians

have played down the chances of that happening. As preparations for those talks move forward, Russia is not letting up on the battlefield.

It deployed at least three jet powered drone attacks across Ukraine overnight. The Ukrainian military says this is a newer tactic, one that's

been seen only a handful of times, that forces Kyiv to use its more expensive aerial defenses to shoot down the drones. And ringing the opening

bell, the CEO of ship breaking company, Vantage Corp, the company is celebrating its IPO so everybody is clapping in anticipation of a good day

today.

[09:30:00]

And there it is. It's Friday, August 8. We will have the numbers for you in just a moment. But the economic data has been offering a mixed picture. And

investors are considering the direction of future U.S. interest rates. Well, Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs have started generating a lot of

money for the U.S. government.

Now the question is, what to do with it? The president has said it would go to pay off national debt, but he's also open to sharing the wealth with the

American people. One proposal would involve issuing rebate checks of $600 per person. That could be a very popular move and a way to mitigate the

soaring costs of basic needs like rent and groceries.

But economists are warning handing out rebates would likely make inflation even worse. Well CNN's Matt Egan is joining us from New York to explain all

of this to us. Matt, an open reporting on these warnings from economist saying it's a bad idea. How are experts in lockstep on this? What do they

think is going to happen?

MATT EGAN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Yeah, Christina, the experts that I'm talking to, they all think that this would be a terrible idea, because the

problem is, tariffs are already inflationary, and if you hand people big checks, they're probably going to spend it. So, you'd have a situation

where you're boosting demand without addressing any of the supply problems caused by either the trade war or the immigration crackdown.

It would be like handing out extra tickets to a concert that's already sold out without adding any more seats. Now, as you can see on that chart, the

president is right about tariff revenue. It is surging right, $30 billion in tariff revenue in July alone. That's more than triple the same month

last year, $100 billion of tariff revenue just since April.

Of course, that tariff revenue is being paid by U.S. importers to the U.S. Treasury Department. Now this is a nice problem to have, and now there's

this debate over what to do with the money. Senator Josh Hawley, he has proposed this bill, the one that you mentioned, that calls for tariff

rebate checks of $600 per adult who makes up to $75,000 a year for couples making up to $150,000 a year, they'd get $600 per kid as well.

So, a family of four could be looking at $2,400 it's easy to see how this would be popular, right? I mean, who does not like free money from Uncle

Sam. This could also really help people who are struggling to get by right now, especially with the cost of living, the cost of groceries.

But economists, they're warning that it really could backfire, because, again, it could really further ignite inflation. Economist Stephanie Roth,

she told me that this idea could be, quote, quite dangerous. Douglas Holtz- Eakin, he's a Former Bush Economist. He told me that he thinks that this would make inflation worse and that it's, quote, pandering at its lowest

form.

We reached out to the White House. They said that, yes, this is something under consideration. No, it's not imminent, and they say it's premature to

talk about the inflationary impact. But I do think the bottom line here, Christina, is this is something that could be very popular, but it also

could come with a very high cost in terms of inflation.

MACFARLANE: Yeah. And as Donald Trump continues to keep the pressure up on Jerome Powell, we're hearing that he's nominating Stephen Miran to

temporarily fill vacancy at the fed. What do we know about him?

EGAN: Well, Christina, as you know a lot of economists, they're skeptical about the president's trade agenda. Stephen Miran is not one of those

skeptics, right? He is a true believer. He's a Trump loyalist. He's actually served as the brains of the president's tariff regime.

He's a Harvard-trained economist. He worked at treasury during the first Trump Administration, and he's currently serving as the Chair of the

Council of Economic Advisers. Now, what could be a little awkward if he joins the fed. Is, he's not been shy about criticizing the Powell led fed.

He's argued that they've been late to cutting interest rates and that ultimately the president will be proven right on that topic. What's

interesting is that as recently as last September, Miran was publicly condemning the fed for interest rate cuts, arguing that, that September cut

last year before the election was politically motivated and was a massive mistake.

Now keep in mind, inflation was actually cooling at the time. Inflation was lower than it is right now. So, flash forward to today, Miran is calling

for the fed to cut interest rates, even though inflation is higher and it's heating up, he's also changed his tune on another topic.

Last year, Miran argued that the revolving door between the Federal Reserve and the executive branch needs to be closed.

[09:35:00]

Now Miran could become just the latest person to walk through that revolving door. If he gets confirmed, he could end up voting on the next

three or four meetings before this term would expire in January, Christina.

MACFARLANE: Interesting reversal, as you say. Matt Egan there with the latest. Thank you.

EGAN: Thanks.

MACFARLANE: A federal judge has ordered a two-week halt to construction at Florida's controversial immigrant detention center nicknamed Alligator

Alcatraz. The site built in the Everglades faces backlash from environmental groups and others who say it threatens protected wetlands.

Testimony from experts warned of toxic runoff and irreversible damage. The state says the temporary construction ban won't affect deportation efforts.

Rafael Remo has more details and joining us now. So, will this temporary construction ban stop this feared environmental damage, or is it just going

to delay it?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, probably just going to delay it. Christina, it's, that's the bottom line. This is only temporary, and it's

remains to be seen what's going to happen in two weeks. That's what the ruling means that the construction at the migrant detention center in the

Florida, Everglades dubbed Alligator Alcatraz.

This period, Christina, is meant to give Miami U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams time to consider whether the tent facility violates federal

environmental laws. The state of Florida started building the facility meant to hold up to 3000 migrants in late June at a single runway training

airport located in the middle of the Everglades.

This week's ruling stems from a lawsuit filed on June 27 by the environmental groups known as friends of the Everglades and the Center for

Biological Diversity. The Miccosukee tribe later joined the lawsuit. The judge's order doesn't impose any restrictions on immigration authorities to

detain and process hundreds of undocumented immigrants who are already being held at the detention center.

And even though the order is temporary, one of the plaintiffs, says it's a step in the right direction. This is how Eve Samples, Executive Director of

the Friends of the Everglades, reacted after Judge Williams issued her ruling.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EVE SAMPLES, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF FRIENDS OF THE EVERGLADES: Our case as a reminder, is all about pausing so that the government can comply with the

National Environmental Policy Act. We've had to do this work that the government should have done, and we are pleased and encouraged that the

court saw fit to pause additional construction activity. And we still do expect the government to comply with the law.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: And Christina, while federal agencies have authority over immigration, the Florida Division of Emergency Management built it and is

managing the facility. A spokesman for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said the following quote, Alligator Alcatraz will remain operational, continuing

to serve as a force multiplier to enhance deportation efforts.

This is one of two lawsuits against Alligator Alcatraz. Last month, the ACLU, the American Civil Liberties Union, sued the Trump Administration and

others, claiming lack of access to legal counsel and violations of due process for people detained at the tent facility.

As you may remember, Christina, Alligator Alcatraz opened on July 3rd in a court filing, the State of Florida said detainees have been allowed to meet

with their lawyers for three weeks at the detention center, and according to the same filing, since July 15, the state has granted every request for

a detainee to meet with an attorney, Christina.

MACFARLANE: We will watch closely to see where this goes. Rafael Remo, appreciate it. Thank you. Now at the start of the Montreal open, Victoria

Mboko didn't even have a profile picture on the WTA site. That's sure to change after Thursday's final victory over Naomi Osaka. More on that, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:40:00]

MACFARLANE: To tennis now, where Canadian teenager, Victoria Mboko's dream run culminated on Thursday with victory over four-time Grand Slam Champion

Naomi Osaka. She is just 18 years old, and it is her first tour title. Patrick Snell is joining me now to discuss, Patrick, this was such a huge

win, wasn't it?

PATRICK SNELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: Oh, Christi, just incredible scenes there the crowd. There 11,000 watching on for her first ever WTA Tour title. And

it was incredible. You know, she beat four Grand Slam champions, Christi, on the way to the title. You can just see the emotion there etched all over

her face.

She can't believe it. She can't rip just what she's achieved, Christi, ranked in the 300/333 in the world, Christi, going into this tournament. It

really is a Cinderella run, and what a storyline we'll be hearing from her in the forthcoming edition of CNN's "World Sport", of course, for Naomi

Osaka, there is now plenty to reflect on, Christi. Where does she go from here?

MACFARLANE: Yeah, but also a good run for her too, right? A bit of a revival for Osaka. Good to see.

SNELL: Yeah.

MACFARLANE: And all of that coming up as we say, Patrick in "World Sport", after this quick break. Stay with us for that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:45:00]

(WORLD SPORT)

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