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Connect the World

Israel Rejects U.S. Plan, Demands Hamas Disarm First; Hamas Calls for U.S. Pressure on Israel to Stick to New Plan; Trump Emphasizes Economic Pressure on Iran Over Negotiations; Russia, Ukraine Ramp Up Aerial Attacks Against One Another; 9-year-old Boy Missing After Being Swept into Sea in China. Aired 9-9:45a ET

Aired August 10, 2026 - 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: President Trump says the U.S. is in low-key negotiations with Iran. So low-key apparently that

Tehran says there are no talks with the U.S. It's 09: a.m. in Washington and it's 02:00 p.m. in London.

I'm Christina Macfarlane, and this is "Connect the World". Also coming up, Israel is rejecting the U.S.-backed Gaza peace plan. We'll have a live

report on what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is saying about the proposal. And heat and gusty winds are threatening to worsen wildfire

conditions across western Canada.

We will have the weather forecast. And the stock market in New York is set to open in about 30 minutes from now. And it looks as though it's going to

be a slightly lower open. All indices there in the red, as you can see, as hopes of a quick deal on the Strait of Hormuz fade.

Last week, the S&P finished at an all-time closing record. But we begin with what appears to be a stunning rift between two staunch global allies.

Israel is rejecting the latest U.S.-backed plan for Gaza, demanding that Hamas fully disarm before any Israeli forces withdraw.

That's part of the 15-point plan proposed by Donald Trump's Board of Peace. Israel's Prime Minister also says there will never be a Palestinian state

as long as he's prime minister. He issued this defiant statement on Sunday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: Israel rejects the 15-point plan. I heard that there were those who said you didn't say it, but we did

say it, and here I am saying it again. Israel rejects the 15-point plan. The IDF will not carry out any withdrawal until the dismantling of Hamas

and its weapons.

And when I say dismantling Hamas and its weapons, that means heavy weaponry, less heavy weaponry, and smaller arms, all weaponry. We're

talking about a true dismantling, not a fictitious dismantling.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: Well Jeremy Diamond is in Jerusalem with the latest on this. And Jeremy, we just heard the prime minister's statement there. What more

has he said about this 15-point plan? And where does it leave negotiations over Gaza's future now?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, the Israeli Prime Minister said in no uncertain terms that he rejects this 15-point plan

outright. And it's important to note that it came, you know, about 10 days after President Trump described the very same plan as historic and a quote,

monumental step toward lasting peace and security.

And so, it is quite remarkable to see how differently these two men, who have often been allies but have at times publicly clashed as well, how

differently both of them are describing this very same plan. And the Israeli Prime Minister's rejection of this plan does seem to be quite

linked to the politics that are currently happening in Israel right now.

Within his own government, the far-right members like Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir, two ministers in his government, came out, you know,

publicly lambasting this plan, demanding that it be brought forward for a vote, that it not move forward at all, that Israel not cooperate with it.

And it was after those very public criticisms that we saw the Israeli Prime Minister come out and make clear what he had already said, which was his

criticism of the plan. But now to say explicitly that Israel actually rejects it. The prime minister also said that what he is aiming for in Gaza

is genuine disarmament, not fictitious disarmament, which seemed to be a reference to this current plan and he said that Israel is speaking with

American officials about the disagreements that Israel has with this plan.

It is important to note, however, that this agreement between the Board of Peace and Hamas over Hamas's disarmament came following months and months

of negotiations involving the United States, the various Arab mediators to this process, and with the kind of -- with Israel being informed throughout

the process, according to American officials who said that they expected Israel to adhere to this plan.

And now, of course, we have this very different statement from the Israeli Prime Minister.

MACFARLANE: Yeah, and Hamas saying they're continuing to abide by the deal. They're calling for U.S. pressure on Israel. I mean, what has been the

response there, and how is the U.S. likely to respond to this, given how public a rebuttal this was?

[09:05:00]

DIAMOND: Yeah. Well, Hamas is publicly saying that they are committed to this 15-point plan that they agreed to. And they say that the ball is still

in Israel's court and in the court of the United States and the mediators, demanding that they, you know, make Israel comply with this agreement.

We've heard as well from the Board of Peace. A Board of Peace official telling us that basically they believe that this is politics at play. That

you know some individuals may be quote, accentuating certain points for election purposes is what this board of peace official said.

But they note that behind the scenes they are seeing quote, unquote, cooperation, and they also note something that is true, which is that we

have seen a significant decrease in Israeli military strikes in the Gaza Strip over the course of the last week or so. And in addition to that,

we've learned from an Israeli source that any targeted killings, drone strikes that take place in Gaza now have to be approved by the Israeli

military's chief of staff, whereas previously those could have been approved at lower levels.

It does suggest a tightening of Israeli military policies in Gaza, which would be in line with parts of this new ceasefire agreement, but there are

a number of other aspects that we still don't know whether or not Israel is actually going to comply with. For example, pulling its troops back to the

Yellow Line as it was agreed to in October, not the additional territory that Israel has taken over the course of the last several months.

The prime minister publicly is saying that there will be zero movement, zero withdrawal of Israeli troops beyond their current positions. But we

will have to kind of keep a close eye on this and see whether publicly there is one message being given. But behind the scenes, is that

cooperation that this Board of Peace official talking about actually legitimate.

And is it actually going to allow for the disarming process to begin, because it's important to note, Hamas has said it won't begin that process

until Israel first comes into compliance with this ceasefire agreement, as it was agreed to originally back in October.

MACFARLANE: Yeah, well, important context for what may be playing out behind the scenes. Jeremy Diamond there with the latest. Thanks very much.

Now the U.S. is low-keying negotiations with Iran. That's coming from U.S. President Donald Trump, who's signaling Washington will ramp up economic

pressure on Tehran.

Iran, meantime, says is not engaging in talks with the U.S. and the country's security chief has said he's skeptical of negotiations with

Washington. Instead, Tehran is pushing a list of demands for the U.S. to meet. They don't seem that different from the ones made in the U.S.-Iran

Memorandum of Understanding, which was suspended in July.

And I want to bring in Dina Esfandiary, the Middle East Lead for Bloomberg Economics. So great to have you with us back on the show. Now, look,

Washington saying they are low-keying negotiations with Iran. What does that mean for the current stalemate that we appear to be in over the Strait

of Hormuz, and for the widening war at this point?

DINA ESFANDIARY, MIDDLE EAST LEAD FOR BLOOMBERG ECONOMICS: Well, honestly, nothing good. Nothing good at all, because low key negotiations, whatever

that means. Although he then explained it by saying it appears to mean no more military strikes, but doubling down on economic pressure on Iran.

I think all of this just really reflects that President Trump has a smaller and smaller range of options when it comes to dealing with Iranian

defiance, because that's what we're seeing right now. Is the Iranians really standing firm? Economic pressure has been on Iran for the better

part of the last 30, 40, years.

It's done very little to change Iranian behavior, as has Iranian -- as has American military action. So, I think this really shows that the U.S. is

stuck between a rock and a hard place right now.

MACFARLANE: Yeah, and that's an interesting point that you know economic pressure has been on for decades because shipping analysts say that the

U.S. naval blockade of Iran ports has currently brought all oil export activity at Kharg Island, which is of course, the terminal handling almost

all of Iran's crude exports to a near halt.

Do you think that could be giving the White House a sense that it could pressure Tehran into the deal? Is that behind the messaging on you know the

economic pressure that Donald Trump was putting out there?

ESFANDIARY: I mean it appears clear that whoever is advising the White House is advising them to keep the pressure up. And it's undeniable that

domestically the Iranian government is facing an increasing economic crisis, and it has been for months now. Every time we think the Iranian

economy has hit rock bottom, it continues further down, and the war has done nothing to help them.

But the point is less an economic point and more a political issue. The government views this moment as existential, so their pain threshold is

really high. They have made a political decision to continue fighting this war and to stand firm against the United States.

[09:10:00]

And it's for that reason that I don't think economic pressure is going to do anything.

MACFARLANE: And for Iran's part, I mean, it is pushing a new list of demands for the U.S. to meet, including a permanent end to the war and the

blockade of Iranian ports. It also wants to see sanctions lifted, assets unfrozen as compensation for war damages. I mean, is the Trump

Administration likely to meet any of those demands, and does Iran truly believe that it will?

ESFANDIARY: Well, some of those demands were agreed to during the MOU that neither side then proceeded to implement really. The remaining were things

like sanctions and asset releases. Those were supposed to be negotiated. There was supposed to be a timeline for their release that was negotiated

between the U.S. and Iran.

And of course, we all know what happened. Those negotiations really never happened in the end because the MOU wasn't implemented. I think what this

shows is again that the Iranian side feels emboldened right now. It feels confident. It feels it has the upper hand despite all of the domestic

issues that it's facing.

And importantly, I think the main takeaway for the Iranian system has been the language of pressure, the bullying, the tough rhetoric. All of that

appears to work with the Trump Administration. So, they really -- they're really turning the tools that the Trump Administration has used against

them and many others in the international community back in using it against Trump himself.

And at the moment, it appears to be working because the U.S. President appears to want out of this conflict, and like I said earlier, he really is

stuck. So, what this shows is the Iranians are tougher; they're doubling down, and they're ready to keep going.

MACFARLANE: Dina, so great to have your analysis as this a never-ending stalemate, it seems, continues. Thanks very much. Now, a Ukrainian drone

strike has killed at least 13 people deep inside Russia. That's according to Russian local authorities. It's one of the deadliest attacks to hit the

country in more than two years.

Videos circulating on social media and geolocated by CNN show a massive fire and thick plumes of smoke near the reported attack site. It's near a

major technologically advanced oil refinery, similar to those Ukraine has frequently targeted in recent months. CNN's Clare Sebastian is across this.

So, Clare, obviously, this strike comes as both Russia and Ukraine have been ramping up their aerial attacks against one another. What more are you

learning about this?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, look, I think it's clear at this point, Christina, that deep strikes, these long-range attacks that both

sides are carrying out, have gone from a side bar in this war to really almost its central feature. Ukraine, in particular, has been really

escalating its attacks as its drone technology has improved.

It got to the end of an announced 40-day campaign to target facilities, military facilities, energy sites. We've also seen warehouses targeted deep

inside Russia. And is now clearly continuing with this as it's seeing results. It is very unusual to see an incident as deadly as we saw today on

Nizhnekamsk in Tatarstan, which is in southwestern Russia.

13 dead, as you say, including one child. They've declared a day of mourning in that region. It isn't 100 percent clear exactly what was hit at

this point. The Russians are saying that Ukraine targeted residential areas as well as industrial facilities. That may be why we have this death toll.

Ukraine's general staff came out and confirmed an attack on the Taneco oil refinery in that town.

So, obviously, hitting oil refineries is a tactic that we've seen for a while as Ukraine tries to target the key engine, essentially, of Russia's

war economy. But I think, look, it is clear as these Ukrainian strikes do increase in frequency and ferocity that civilians are increasingly

vulnerable, and this is just another way in which the war is being brought home for them.

Obviously, the destruction caused by Ukraine pales in comparison to that wrought by Russia across Ukraine. We've seen them ramping up attacks,

particularly involving ballistic missiles, amid, of course, a very well- publicized lack of air defenses against those in Ukraine.

Just last week, some 17 people were killed in Kyiv, in the Kyiv region, with many, many ballistic missiles being used and none getting shot down by

air defenses, Christina.

MACFARLANE: All right, Clare, appreciate it. Thank you. More than a million people have been evacuated in eastern China as Typhoon Dolphin is bringing

heavy rains and high-speed winds. We'll have the details from Beijing next.

[09:15:00]

And thousands evacuated and wildfires. Out of control. We'll have the latest on the devastation that struck Canada over the weekend.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACFARLANE: An advocacy group alleges that Robert Gilman, a Former U.S. Marine detained in Russia, has been tortured and is quote, near death.

Gilman was arrested in 2022 over an alleged altercation with police. His family and their advocates deny the charges, saying he was wrongfully

detained.

Now advocates say Gilman is being fed through a tube and slipped into an unresponsive state six weeks ago. The U.S. says it has requested his

release on humanitarian grounds. Jennifer Hansler is at the U.S. State Department following this story. She joins us live. This is obviously very

concerning, Jennifer.

What are you hearing from State Department officials about the case?

JENNIFER HANSLER, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Well, Christina, according to a State Department spokesperson, the U.S. government is quote,

deeply concerned about Gilman's health and continued detention in Russia. The spokesperson told me that they have raised his case repeatedly with the

Russian government and they have pressed for that humanitarian release because of the concerns for his health.

The family also said that they were told that Secretary of State Marco Rubio raised his case in a recent meeting with Russian Foreign Minister

Sergey Lavrov. Now according to Eric Lebson, who works for Global Reach, which is the organization advocating on behalf of the family.

Gilman has undergone psychological and physical torture while he has been detained in Russia. Lebson said that he has been giving mind-altering

drugs, that he has been told lies about his family, that the Russian government had tracked them down and beat them up, and he was told that the

U.S. government had forgotten him.

Now Lebson said more than six weeks ago, Gilman flipped into a quote, dissociative stupor and was moved from the hospital in his prison some six

hours outside of Moscow to a local civilian psychiatric ward. In that time, neither his local Russian lawyer nor his mother have been permitted to see

him.

And that part is significant, because, according to Lebson, his mom flew from the United States to Russia with a Russian court order that was meant

to allow her to visit her son, and she was blocked from doing so. Because of this development, Lebson said they are seriously concerned that Gilman

could potentially already be dead, or could be in such a poor state of health that they could end up having that as the likely outcome.

Here, they're very concerned that this could be a situation similar to Otto Warmbier, who was a U.S. college student who was detained in North Korea

some year and a half before he was released into U.S. custody with severe brain damage, and he was then died shortly thereafter.

So, there's a lot of concern here about Gilman's health and safety, Christina.

[09:20:00]

MACFARLANE: Yeah, and no doubt very distressing for the family too. Will continue to follow us. Jennifer, thank you. A nine-year-old boy is missing

after he was swept out to sea by a typhoon as it hit eastern China. It happened on Friday, and now days later, search and rescue teams are still

hunting for the child. CNN's Mike Valerio has more from Beijing.

MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, certainly tons of rainfall, a nine- year-old boy who was swept out to sea, and more than 1000 flights canceled. Those are the main storylines that we are following here. So, according to

forecasters in China, because of this storm Dolphin, central and eastern Zhejiang province could get between 250 millimeters of rain, which is as we

hold up our tape measurer, that would be about this much right here between 250 and 500.

There we go, millimeters of rain because of this storm, which is the rough equivalent of around 9.8 inches to 19.7 inches of rain. That is the

expectation from forecasters because of this storm. Torrential rain in Zhejiang, Shanghai, northern Fujian province, northeastern Jiangxi, central

and southern Anhui in Jiangsu province as well.

A nine-year-old boy on Friday was with family members when one of the gigantic waves crashed against the seashore. Again, this is happening in

Zhejiang province, which is south of Shanghai. Still, authorities were searching for the boy by the middle of the day on Monday after he was swept

out to sea by one of those waves crashing into the sea front.

More than a million people evacuated because of the storm. Shanghai's Yangshan Province moved more than 500 vessels to shelter. Shanghai also

canceled about 1,500 flights, which is data according to VariFlight. Shanghai also evacuated. Just imagine this, wherever you're watching us

from, 30,300 people, and even more than that, in Zhejiang province, in the City of Guangzhou.

They relocated more than 900,000 residents and opened more than 1000 emergency shelters. This storm tracking westward before slowing over

central and southwestern China. The danger of flooding and landslides is expecting to persist. Mike Valerio, CNN, Beijing.

MACFARLANE: Now a heat records are being shattered again in Europe. The first two months of summer have been the hottest on record for Western

Europe, according to the EU Climate Monitor. Many countries have been battling consecutive heat waves, which have been fueling wildfires across

the continent.

July was also the hottest month ever for non-polar oceans, raising serious concerns about the health of sea life and coastal communities. More than

20,000 people were forced to evacuate their homes in Canada as fast-moving wildfires consumed vast swathes of land along a lake in British Columbia

over the weekend.

At least four fire-related deaths were reported. Officials recorded a total of 105 wildfires on Sunday. Half are classified as out of control. This

comes as authorities in neighboring U.S. states remain concerned about wildfires spilling across states. For more, let's bring in CNN

Meteorologist Derek Van Dam.

Derek, what are you seeing in regard to those wildfires in Canada, and how long this could continue?

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Christina, I've traveled to this area numerous times. It's a beautiful part of the world. This is southern

British Columbia in the Okanagan Lake District. So, this region is surrounded by mountains, but when you have a drought, high temperatures,

and obviously strong winds and a lot of topography, a wildfire can spread very easily.

And it took a lot of people off guard Saturday night. We had the 20,000 people evacuated at a moment's notice. Remember, the byproduct of all this

is the wildfire smoke. We've talked about that topic so many times this year, I'm calling this the Summer of Smoke 2.0.

Remember, last summer was also very smoky, but this kind of summarizes it quite nicely from NASA over the past month or so. Look at the smoke

billowing from the hundreds of wildfires across North America, many of them over the past couple of weeks, concentrated across the Pacific Northwest,

including British Columbia.

So, let's talk about Canada right now because the past four years have burned more acreage each consecutive year than average, and that is

significant. We're already surpassing this 10-year average year to date for the middle of August. We're at 4.4 million or 4.04 million hectares.

Now in the United States, of course, we measure this in acres. This is significant because we are now experiencing more burned acreage than our

10-year average by far, but also burning more acreage than each of the past 10 years.

[09:25:00]

The number of fires here just astounding to over 45,000 since the beginning of the year. Here's all of our hot spots right now. You can see the Pacific

Northwest dotted with these red little flames, indicating the active fires that are ongoing right now, fueled by strong winds.

Of course, this is a big part or a big part of the ingredient necessary for wildfires. Of course, that provides oxygen to a wildfire to continue to

spread. Today we have an elevated risk of fire danger. So that includes portions of the Intermountain West, but even into the Central Valley of

California.

But it's this quality of air that's going downhill in a quick way. So, some of the places that have been impacted lately Seattle to Spokane to Portland

to Billings, Montana. These areas are going to see smoke just move in and out as the upper-level winds kind of fluctuate across the region.

Unfortunately, Christina, no real significant rain in this forecast to help quell the fires. This wildfire season has been very dramatic across North

America.

MACFARLANE: Yeah, as we can see from those images you're showing us from above, really very disturbing. Derek, thank you. And we have some breaking

news coming in to CNN. A 7.4 magnitude earthquake has struck western Colombia, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The epicenter was in San Jose del Palmar, about 280 kilometers west of Bogota. Shaking was felt in several cities across the country, including

Bogota. The tremor sent -- set off alarms and sent people to the streets. The quake was more than 100 kilometers deep, and there are no reports of

injuries or structural damages at this point.

Although we'll keep you posted as we learn more details. And we're keeping a close eye on oil markets as Iran makes a full reopening of the Strait of

Hormuz look further away. We've seen wild swings between $170 a barrel in a matter of weeks. So, where will prices go from here? We'll discuss.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

Israeli Prime Minister has rejected a 15-point Gaza peace plan proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump's Board of Peace.

Benjamin Netanyahu says no Israeli troops will be withdrawn until Hamas is fully disarmed. The comments come after President Trump announced that a

deal had been reached with Hamas to give up its weapons. Russian authorities say at least 13 people were killed in a Ukrainian drone strike

deep inside the country.

CNN has geolocated social media video showing a massive fire and thick clouds of smoke from the report -- of the attack.

[09:30:00]

This marks one of the deadliest attacks to hit Russia in more than two years. And ringing the opening bell, it's our investment management firm

Advisor Shares. Investors will closely monitor consumer and producer price numbers throughout this week for the latest signs on inflation.

And let's have a quick look at how stocks are getting on at the open. Well, you can see there the Dow is currently down by 0.13 points. It looked like

a mixed start half an hour ago, amid the growing doubts that the U.S. and Iran will come to a lasting resolution on the conflict in the near term.

But as you can see, markets are reflecting the uncertainty this hour, and oil prices are ticking higher as well as the reopening of the Strait of

Hormuz looks increasingly uncertain. Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, is trading at 84 and 87 dollars, as you can see there.

And it comes, of course, after Iran said that any deal with Iran over safe passage through Hormuz is not enough, and is demanding more from the U.S.

to fully reopen the critical waterway, including paying compensation for war damages. Well, let's discuss this with Rana Foroohar, CNN Global

Economic Analyst and Global Business Columnist and Associate Editor at the "Financial Times".

Great to be back with you, Rana. And let's just start with oil prices, which, quite honestly, would give anyone a headache if you're trying to

figure out what's going to come next here, because you know, as we know, a few days ago Brent dropped to below $80, and then confidence seemed to have

evaporated, and now it appears to be going up again. So, where do you see this?

RANA FOROOHAR, CNN GLOBAL ECONOMIC ANALYST: Well, look, I think longer-term trend prices are simply going to be a lot higher than we've seen them in

some time. You know, oil began going up right after the war in Iran. It had already been actually up from the war in Ukraine and any number of other

choke point and supply chain issues that we've seen.

The fact that the Strait of Hormuz, which is the major global energy choke point is not a sure thing. It's very much in play. I think this means that

the market is not going to go down to anything that looks like normal in the next few months, if not years. And I think even if you see a deal, you

know we've heard about deals so many times.

Trump loves to talk about deals, but oil markets are based in reality, and right now people want certainty. And I think it's going to take again

months, no matter what happens, to create that. So, I'm not looking for oil and prices and oil-related inflation to go away anytime soon.

MACFARLANE: Yeah, and I think just to underline your point, Rana, just let's take a closer look at the shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. Now

we can show our views the live marine traffic as it stands, which is probably pretty much at a standstill because whatever the United States

President is saying, the vital waterway is not really open, right?

Iran will not release its control until and unless the United States ends the blockade on Iranian ports, and the list, of course, doesn't end there

with the list of demands. So, it looks, Rana, like we're at a stalemate here, right? We're still stuck.

FOROOHAR: Yeah, and I think maybe what's even more important is the fact that the U.S. is not in control of this game. Iran is in control of this

game. That was the major own goal, frankly, of the Trump Administration in just starting the conflict in Iran. Iran had the high ground literally.

The Revolutionary Guard was made for this moment. The U.S. almost immediately took out anybody that the government could have negotiated

with, and you get a lot of hardliners in charge. Iran knows it now controls this choke point, and the fact that it's in conversation with the Omanis.

There's a sense that the middle powers, if you know -- if you would consider Iran a middle power, certainly not a global power, but that

they're now setting the terms of the debate here. And that's not what the Trump Administration wants, you know, it's been arguing that yeah, the U.S.

can open the strait, no problem, but there is really no military solution here, and Iran is in charge.

I mean, that is the sad fact for Trump, the U.S. and for oil markets.

MACFARLANE: And meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has been trying to sort of quietly get on with exporting oil through the Bab al-Mandab Strait, but the Houthis

are definitely making that hard. They're not attacking. They're attacking not only the shipping lane but also the Jazan refinery. What do you think

their plan is?

[09:35:00]

FOROOHAR: Well, again, I think this is all about choke points. It's about energy choke points, supply chain choke points. Of course, the Saudis are

going to look for other ways to get their energy out. I mean, we're seeing the Chinese, as we just saw on the home page of the FTSE today.

The Chinese looking for ways across the Arctic to take energy out. Choke points and who controls them globally is going to be everything. It's going

to be everything economically, politically. But ultimately, if the Strait of Hormuz doesn't open up, it is the most important energy choke point at

the moment.

You're going to see higher oil prices, no question about it.

MACFARLANE: Yeah. While we have you, let's just pivot as well to U.S. politics, because especially since you know we're counting down to the

midterm elections, the Director of the National Economic Council is defending job growth under President Trump. I'm sure you saw that's despite

July's lackluster statistics. Let's just have a listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN HASSETT, U.S. NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL DIRECTOR: Bottom line is that if you look at the overall economy, then things are really, really booming.

As an example, there are 83,000 construction workers building factories right now. That's a number that we've never seen before.

Initial claims for unemployment insurance are the lowest they've been since World War II. There are more job openings than there are unemployed

workers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: Rana, does he really believe this, or do you think he's just downplaying bad news here?

FOROOHAR: Well, I think anybody that you know broadcasts bad news in the Trump Administration, if it goes against him, is in trouble. So, look, the

jobs numbers were very bleak. The latest jobs numbers. You know, there's no question that the labor market is contracting.

It's doing that for many reasons. You know, higher inflation, AI tariffs, but a lot of this is really down to the administration's own bad policies.

You know, we were in this when Trump came in. The U.S. was in the strongest post-COVID recovery of any developed nation, and it's now sinking into.

You know, if we see another couple month of bad jobs numbers, what could be a recession? That's going to be on the president, and that's what he's

going to have to answer for in the midterms. I was actually just in the Midwest in Indiana, which is a big Trump state, but I was hearing a lot of

people talking about higher gas prices, higher energy prices, fuel.

Agricultural producers are upset about that, fertilizer. These are things that I think are going to be big time front and center in the fall as we go

into the midterm conversation.

MACFARLANE: Definitely front and center. Rana Foroohar, always great to have your analysis. Thank you so much for joining us. And I want to return

to our breaking news, a seven-point-four magnitude earthquake has struck western Colombia, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The epicenter was in San Jose del Palmar, about 280 kilometers west of Bogota, shaking was felt in several cities, including Bogota, and it set

off alarms and sent people into the streets. We will have more on this breaking news after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:40:00]

MACFARLANE: After nearly 30 years, the man accused of providing the gun and being the shot caller in the 1996 murder of the famous rapper Tupac Shakur

is going to trial. A grand jury indicted Duane Davis in 2023 after investigators say they were able to gather enough evidence against him,

much of it coming from Davis himself.

Throughout various interviews and a memoir about gang life, Davis described the events that led up to Tupac's murder, admitting to being one of four

people present the night Shakur was shot. Shakur was just 25 years old at the time of his murder and has been the suspect of conspiracy theories and

huge public interest ever since.

Shakur's step brother spoke to CNN and says the family is cautiously optimistic about this trial.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOPREME SHAKUR, TUPAC SHAKUR'S STEPBROTHER: Over the years, we have found ways to cope with the trauma, with the drama, and try to still continue on

and have a full life, you dig? These are strange days we're living in. So, I, you know, I'm just we just being cautiously optimistic.

Let you know the process take its course, and see where we land.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: And we will bring you more coverage of this story in the next couple of hours. Turning now, though, to something you won't quite believe

in the Brazilian Football League. After a Coritiba player scores a goal, he leaps over the advertising billboard. Take a look at this video here.

And straight into a tunnel. Let's have another look of it. Oh, my goodness. Quite extraordinary scenes. We're joined by Patrick Snell. Patrick, was he

all right, do we know?

PATRICK SNELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: Hi there, Christy. Yeah, Jacy Maranhao, the player in question there, and I was just chatting to the guys in the office

about this. He would only have known that he was about to drop into a hole, Christy, as he's airborne by which point, it was too late.

MACFARLANE: Yeah.

SNELL: To answer your question fortunately, he did suffer an injury, but it was minor when you consider what could have happened there. That is the

tunnel that actually leads down to the away team's dressing room there.

MACFARLANE: Yeah.

SNELL: This home fix in Coritiba. They're taking on Chapecoense in the top flight to Brazilian footballer Serie A. But yeah, it's concerning. I think

it's concerning that that's there reportedly, it's happened before as well. An ankle injury.

MACFARLANE: -- know.

SNELL: We understand an ankle injury to the player. But there's a lot more to this. He basically said afterwards, look, I'm a defender. I got very

excited. I got too excited. I over celebrated. The ankle injury, we believe, is not serious because you went back onto the field of play to

continue in the game.

And here's the plot twist, Christy. It wasn't a goal. They chalked it off. VAR chalked it off for offside. There you go. Back to you.

MACFARLANE: After all of that. Well, stay tuned for "World Sport" and more of that coming up after the break. Thanks, Patrick.

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[09:45:00]

(WORLD SPORT)

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