Return to Transcripts main page

Early Start with Rahel Solomon

CNN International: Palestinians Warn Against Israel Plan To Occupy Gaza City; 21 Countries Condemn Israel's Plan For New Settlement; Moscow's Latest Strikes On Ukraine Show Russia Not Ready For Lasting Peace; Kim Jong Un Pays Emotional Tribute To North Korean Soldiers Killed In Russia; Home Depots Become Prime Locations For Immigration Enforcement; Venezuela Mobilizes Militias As Us Deploys Navy To Region; U.K. Agrees To Pay Kenyans Affected By Lolldaiga Fire; TikTok Employees Raise Concerns About App's Impact On Users. Aired 4- 5a ET

Aired August 22, 2025 - 04:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:00:27]

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning and welcome to our viewers joining us from around the world. I'm Erica Hill. It is Friday, August 22nd, 4:00 a.m. here in New York. Straight ahead on Early Start.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Benjamin Netanyahu says the war is now at a critical juncture. Palestinian officials are warning it will be a death sentence for more than 1.2 million people.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In days these Palestinian farmsteads in the occupied west bank could be gone.

When are they coming to demolish these houses?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Maybe tomorrow and the night. And I don't understand.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Volodymyr Zelenskyy Russia isn't ready for talks or for peace after launching its largest attack in more than a month.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right now, the signals from Russia are frankly obscene.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Palestinian officials are warning a looming Israeli invasion and occupation of Gaza City is in effect a death sentence for the more than 1.2 million people living there. Some residents and displaced people are already fleeing northern Gaza's largest city out of fear of what may come.

Officials are calling on the international community to step in before it is too late, fearing that further displacement and escalating bombardment. Palestinians who gathered in Gaza City on Thursday were there to protest, carrying signs as you can see there reading stop the Genocide and Gaza is dying.

An Israeli source says the military will give Palestinians approximately two months to evacuate Gaza City before the new assault begins, setting a deadline of October 7, which of course marks the two years since the initial attack and of course, two years of the war.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stressing on Thursday Israel is now at a critical juncture, indicating he will approve plans for a military takeover of Gaza City, a major escalation of the war. He also instructed Israeli officials to resume negotiations with Hamas.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): I came to approve the IDF's plans for taking control of Gaza City and defeating Hamas. At the same time, I instructed to begin immediate negotiations for the release of all our hostages and the end of the war under conditions acceptable to Israel.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Aid groups are warning against the mass forced displacement of Gaza City's residents. Medical aid for Palestinians says people already exhausted by war and hunger now face a horrible decision. They either stay and risk annihilation or flee to uncertainty and risk being driven into exile.

Israel's military said Thursday it has begun warning medical officials and International aid groups to plan for mass evacuations and displacement in northern Gaza. The U.N. warns a military operation against Gaza City could cause, quote, massive death and destruction.

That powerful Israeli strike hitting a tent encampment and Deir al- Balah, that's in central Gaza. This happened on Thursday. The attack underscores the dangers so many people in Gaza City may face if they do flee south. Palestinian civil defense teams work to extinguish that fire. No immediate word on casualties. Israel has often said it takes steps to avoid hitting civilians.

Palestinians have repeatedly said they just have nowhere safe to go. Amir Tibon is a journalist with Haaretz who spoke to CNN about Prime Minister Netanyahu's efforts to negotiate an end to the war while simultaneously expanding the military offensive in Gaza.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMIR TIBON, JOURNALIST, HAARETZ: If there were real negotiations, maybe it would make sense as a tactic to try to impact the outcome of the negotiations. But Netanyahu is not really negotiating. A few days ago, we had announcement that Hamas has accepted a proposal by Egypt and Qatar for a temporary ceasefire along the same lines that Netanyahu had been advocating for many months. Some temporary two month ceasefire or release of half of the hostages. This is something that Netanyahu himself drew up at the time. This was

his plan. And Hamas said they prefer a comprehensive agreement, all the hostages to end the war. He rejected that demand because he wanted to continue fighting after the ceasefire.

And now Hamas have changed their mind and they're willing to go along with this kind of plan. But Netanyahu says, I want to negotiate something completely different.

[04:05:02]

It's a tactic to play for time. We saw it last summer when the Biden administration was trying to reach a ceasefire. We're seeing it now when the Trump administration is, well, at least some parts of the Trump administration are interested in a ceasefire. It's not actually an attempt to reach an agreement, because if there is a will for an agreement, the contents are clear to everybody.

There isn't much to negotiate here. There is going to be a release of all the hostages and there needs to be an end to the war. And the other parameters are solvable. But the real question is, do you want to solve it or not?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: 21 countries, including the UK, France and Canada, are condemning Israel's plan to build new settlements in the occupied West Bank, calling it a violation of international law. CNN's Nic Robertson has more now on what's at stake there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): In days, these Palestinian farmsteads in the occupied West Bank could be gone. The Israeli government has just signed off on a demolition to make way for 3,500 new Israeli settlement home, expanding the nearby settlement of Maale Adumim.

ROBERTSON: When are they coming to demolish these houses?

ATALLAH MAZARA, HEAD OF VILLAGE COMMITTEE, JABAL AL-BABA: Maybe tomorrow and the night. And I don't understand.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Atallah has lived here 50 years, has no idea what to expect.

MAZARA: My prayer, for the children, for the woman, for the animals. Where you go.

ROBERTSON: This is Jabal Al-Baba. Everyone here is waiting to be evicted now, 450 people, about 80 families, they tell us. Jabal means hill or mountain. And for many people here now, this feels like it could be the hill upon which the idea of a Palestinian State dies.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): The reasons, they say that best understood on this map, Jabal Al-Baba is in area E1 where there will be more evictions and a new road restricting Palestinian movements. So, Israel's biggest settlement, Maale Adumim can grow area E1 links the West Bank to East Jerusalem. Palestinians pick for a future capital and connects the north and south of the West Bank.

On another hill, just a mile from Jabal Al-Baba Israeli Peace Activist Haget Ofran shows young Israelis what Israel's expansion into area E1 means.

HAGET OFRAN, CO-DIRECTOR, SETTLEMENT WATCH: The government wants to fill in the gap and to make an Israeli corridor into the heart of the West Bank. And in fact, to cut the Palestinian territory for southern area and northern area.

ROBERTSON: So, what does that mean in reality, when you cut -- when you cut the Palestinian area like that?

OFRAN: It means that you cannot develop a viable economy, not to say, a state.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): 20 years ago, then-lawmaker Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to expand the huge Maale Adumim Settlement. Today PM Netanyahu's pro-settler government says their area E1 evictions are legal and justified and appear intended to outmaneuver European decisions to recognize a Palestinian State.

BEZALEL SMOTRICH, ISRAELI FINANCE MINISTER (through translator): We will continue to build a fulfilling Jewish reality. This reality definitively buries the idea of a Palestinian State simply because there is nothing and no one left to recognize.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): On the fringes of area E1 in the bustling streets of Eseria (ph), Smotrich's words are also having a chilling effect.

ROBERTSON: This is where Palestinians say the new Israeli road is going to be built on this busy highway. Thank you. And cutting across the road right along here. So, this will be completely -- thank you, completely shut off. And these stores have closed already because of the demolition order.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Municipality Official Mohammed Mata (ph) points to stores already shuttered. Tells me demolition orders on more than 100 premises have already been served. Says the new road will destroy their fragile economy.

Back on the hilltop Atallah the Bedouin Leader, tells me confiscating these lands is like cutting a cake down the middle.

Jabal Al-Baba isn't only the end of the Bedouins dreams here, he says, it's also the end of every Palestinian's dream of having a state in the future.

[04:10:10]

Nic Robertson, CNN, Jabba Al-Baba, the occupied West Bank.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Russia is not ready for talks or for peace after launching its largest attack in more than a month. Ukraine says at least nine civilians were killed in those strikes overnight. Thursday coming, of course, days after U.S. President Donald Trump met first with Vladimir Putin and then with Zelenskyy and European leaders amid a push to end the war.

Moscow accuses Kyiv of not being interested in a quote, fair and long term settlement. But Ukraine's president says it is Russia putting the brakes on any progress.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Right now. The signals from Russia are frankly obscene. They're trying to wriggle out of the need to hold a meeting. They do not want to end this war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Trump appeared to show sympathy for Ukraine, posting on social media, it's very hard, if not impossible to win a war without attacking an invader's country. It's like a great team in sports that has a fantastic defense but is not allowed to play offense. There is no chance of winning. CNCN's Ben Wedeman reports now from Ukraine where forces are preparing for more Russian attacks.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This complex of bunkers and trenches is not the front line. It's well back in the rear. But the purpose of this is that it is a position that is ready in the event the Russians push forward.

And in fact, what we're hearing from senior officials in the Ukrainian military is that indeed, they are seeing that the Russians are moving more men and equipment to this part of eastern Ukraine in preparation for some sort of attack.

And certainly what we've seen in recent days is an intensification of Russian drone strikes and missile strikes on a variety of parts of Ukraine. And this is, of course, is one of them. This despite the fact that it was not just it was just a few days ago that President Trump met with President Putin in Alaska.

And certainly one would have thought that this would lead to a lessening of the fighting. But in fact, what we're seeing is that in the days following that Alaska summit, if anything, the Russians are intensifying their fire and as many here fear, preparing for yet another push on the eastern front.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL: And our thanks to Ben for that report. In a rare admission of his country's losses, Kim Jong Un is paying emotional tribute to North Korean soldiers killed while fighting for Russia in Russia's war against Ukraine. Speaking in Pyongyang, Kim said his heart aches for the fallen members of what he called his heroic army.

Those comments coming as Kim awarded medals to soldiers during a banquet honoring a North Korean unit that fought for Moscow in the western Kursk region.

North Korea has spent several years ramping up its own military capabilities, modernizing its armed forces, developing new weapons, and testing missiles capable of reaching the United States. Now a new report reveals the country has a secret missile base near its border with China that could pose a nuclear threat to much of East Asia and the United States. Will Ripley has those details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Buried deep in the mountains of North Korea, hidden in a secret location near the Chinese border, an arsenal of nuclear capable long- range missiles potentially capable of striking any American city.

This new report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, analyzing these satellite images, also obtained by CNN. The report says construction began two decades ago.

Today, the Shin Pun Dong base sprawls larger than JFK Airport, tucked into a mountain valley. Many of its entrances and facilities, camouflaged under trees.

Experts say during a crisis, launchers could roll out fire and disappear. An elusive nuclear threat, extremely difficult to effectively counter, even with advanced warning, experts say.

And while Kim Jong Un is busy building an arsenal, the North Korean leader is also building something else. His succession plan. This is the first time the world saw the young girl, believed to be Kim Ju Ae. Her father, introducing her beside a weapon meant to strike fear in his enemies.

Within a year, North Korea's top brass were kneeling before her, the kind of deference reserved for the supreme leader himself. Now, at middle school age, she's no longer the shy child, appearing in tailored suits styled like a head of state, seated ahead of her own mother and even her powerful aunt, Kim Yo-jong.

It's a striking reversal. For years, Kim's younger sister was seen as his likely heir. Now it's his daughter taking her place at the table and perhaps someday holding the keys to a growing nuclear arsenal, hidden power that defines North Korea's future.

[04:15:07]

And that's the bigger picture. North Korea watchers know that this missile base has been around for a long time. This isn't just about firepower. It's about the future. Kim Jong Un is not just testing rockets. He's testing loyalty. And the world is watching as his young daughter, once a shy child, now takes her place beside him, perhaps being groomed to one day inherit control of the world's most secretive nuclear arsenal, aimed squarely at the US. Will Ripley, CNN, Taipei.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL: When we return, President Trump is praising the increased law enforcement presence in Washington, D.C. vowing those efforts won't stop with the U.S. Capitol and a household name in the United States caught in the middle of President Trump's immigration fight.

Still ahead, how Home Depot parking lots have become hotspots for border control agents targeting undocumented migrants.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:20:21]

HILL: The US President is vowing to expand banned his law enforcement crackdown to places other than Washington, DC. Donald Trump making those remarks on Thursday while visiting hundreds officers, federal agents and National Guard troops deployed in the U.S. Capitol.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: There's no games, right? We're not playing games. We're going to make it safe and we're going to then go on to other places, but we're going to stay here for a while. We want to make this absolutely perfect. It's our capital.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: So this comes after President Trump, of course, ordered the federal government to take control of DC's police department, claiming a surge in violent crime. Overall, crime numbers in Washington this year are lower than last year. New polling shows most folks in the city actually oppose the president's takeover.

A U.S. judge has ordered a controversial migrant detention camp in the Florida Everglades to stop taking in new detainees. That facility, referred to by the Trump administration as active Alligator Alcatraz, was also told to remove things like new lighting and fencing within 60 days.

The judge issuing a preliminary injunction in response to a federal lawsuit which was filed by environmental groups and a Native American tribe who raised concerns about the environmental impact of that detention center, its impact on the area.

Home Depot stores across the U.S. are becoming hotspots in the Trump administration's controversial immigration policy. Border control agents have been detaining people in the parking lots of those stores. CNN's Gonzalo Alvarado brings us the story of one caught up in the raids.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) GONZALO ALVARADO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (through translator): It's been four months since Jesus Domingo Ros was picked up by U.S. immigration authorities outside a Home Depot in Southern California. Now, he says most of his time is spent cooped up in his apartment, hesitant to go out.

JESUS DOMINGO ROS (through translator): With what's happening, one is afraid.

ALVARADO (voice-over): Ros is a jornalero, a day laborer, who was detained by Border Patrol agents at the Home Depot parking lot in Pomona in April, accused of illegally entering the U.S. in 2022. He tells us he was released on bond and is now waiting for his next immigration court hearing in March of next year.

Afraid to look for work, Ros keeps busy by cleaning his home, calling his three kids in Guatemala with the promise of better days. He's one and only responsibility, a daily check-in with ICE through this wrist monitor.

Ros agrees to go for a walk, but he's not allowed to go out. It's sunny, a typical California summer day. It's the busiest season, he says. He spots a yard and is quick to point out one of many jobs he used to do as a day laborer.

ROS (through translator): For example, this, look, this old grass. It needs to be replaced. Take out the old and replace it with the new.

ALVARADO: Is that what you did?

ROS (through translator): Yes, that's what we did.

ALVARADO (voice-over): This father of three is one of many day laborers runned up by ICE officials in recent months outside Home Depot stores, known as unofficial hiring spots for these type of workers. An easy target for ICE. The wave of arrests sparked national protests in June. Twenty-one-year-old Guatemalan, Johnny Garcia, was among those picked up outside the Pomona Home Depot.

ALVARADO: Did they say anything before arresting you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): No, they didn't ask me anything.

ALVARADO (voice-over): He was also released on bond and is hoping for an immigration judge to grant him permission to stay in the U.S. Ros and Garcia were both detained during a targeted operation for a known fugitive, according to a statement from Customs and Border Protection sent to CNN.

Alexis Teodoro is the worker rights director for the Pomona Economic Opportunity Center. His office is assisting Ros and Garcia with legal help.

ALEXIS TEODORO, WORKER RIGHTS DIRECTOR, POMONA ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY CENTER (through translator): They are workers, sons, parents, brothers, hardworking people who earn their daily bread.

ALVARADO (voice-over): And though Home Depot has said they aren't notified when ICE operations will happen or involve in coordination and they are required to follow local and federal laws, Teodoro has a request for the retailer.

TEODORO (through translator): We are asking Home Depot for something very basic, to not allow immigration authorities to enter their parking lots.

ALVARADO (voice-over): As more day laborers gather at the curve, another day in the shadows, life goes on for most. But for Ros, Garcia and many others in parking lots across the country, their future is uncertain.

Gonzalo Alvarado, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL: Donald Trump is claiming total victory after New York appeals court threw out a half billion dollar fraud judgment against him. The ruling itself divided the appeals court found the judgment itself was excessive, but did agree to uphold the ruling that Trump had committed fraud.

New York's attorney general called the ruling a victory for her office.

[04:25:02]

Meantime, Letitia James filed suit against Trump in 2022, accusing him, his real estate business and two of his children of inflating his net worth to get better terms on loans. James is vowing to appeal the court's decision to eliminate Trump's penalty.

California Democrats passing three redistricting bills on Thursday, which are designed to help Democrats pick up five congressional seats next year. Just one day earlier, of course, Texas House Republicans approved their state's new maps. The issue will now in Texas will now go to the Texas Senate, which could approve it as early as Friday.

In California, those redistricting plans will go before California voters in a special election to be held November 4th. California Governor Gavin Newsom says his state's redistricting effort is a direct response to the push in Texas to redraw maps at the request of President Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D) CALIFORNIA: He is failing. He recognized that, and that's why he made a phone call to Greg Abbott asking for five seats. Can't win by playing by traditional sets of rules. He plays by no rules.

(END VIDEO CLIP) HILL: Well, despite years of advocating for his release, Erik Menendez was denied parole by California's parole board. Why? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:30:40]

HILL: Welcome back to Early Start. Half past the hour now. I'm Erica Hill in New York. Venezuela is mobilizing millions of militia members as the United States deploys more military forces to the region. The U.S. says the increased military presence is an attempt to crack down on drug trafficking. Patrick Oppmann has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONENT (voice-over): A major show of force in South America. At least three U.S. Navy destroyers, attack aircraft, amphibious landing vehicles, and more than 4,000 Marines.

The Trump administration says it's meant to crack down on drug smuggling from the region to the U.S. and intimidate Venezuela's embattled leader, Nicolas Maduro, who has responded by calling up more than 4 million militiamen to defend against any possible U.S. aggression.

The White House alleges Maduro is the head of a shadowy cocaine trafficking empire known as El Cartel de los Soles, a criminal organization secretly operated by Venezuela's military.

This month, the administration doubled the reward for Maduro's capture to $50 million.

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The Maduro regime is not the legitimate government of Venezuela. It is a narco-terror cartel.

And Maduro it is the view of this administration, is not a legitimate president. He is a fugitive head of this cartel who has been indicted in the United States for trafficking drugs into the country.

OPPMANN (voice-over): Now, U.S. Navy ships approaching Venezuela are putting Maduro on notice.

The deployment may just be a show of force. But one that Venezuela's leader vows to resist.

Maduro denies the drug smuggling accusations and says his government will fight until the last bullet.

NICOLAS MADURO, VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT (through translator): We must defend Venezuela, because they want to turn us into slaves of supremacists due to the racist contempt they have for us.

OPPMANN (voice-over): Maduro, who counts Russia and Iran as allies, say he's mobilizing his military and militia across the country to ensure any U.S. action would be drawn-out and bloody.

MADURO (through translator): No empire is going to set foot on the sacred soil of Venezuela.

OPPMANN (voice-over): Despite the saber rattling on both sides, it's clear the U.S. forces deployed would not be sufficient for regime change, says a former U.S. official who has studied what an invasion of Venezuela would look like.

FRANK MORA, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES: We're talking about 200, 250,000 troops, because it's not just a question of bringing the regime down. That would not be that difficult.

The invasion becomes an occupation, and that gets very complicated, because how do you maintain social order in a country where the government has collapsed?

OPPMANN (voice-over): This is not the first time the U.S. has vowed to oust Maduro. In 2019, during the first Trump administration, a U.S.- backed uprising of dissident Venezuelan soldiers led to fighting in the streets of the capital, Caracas, between pro- and anti-government forces.

But that would-be coup failed. Maduro emerged with a tighter grip on power and even more defiant of U.S. attempts to end his rule. Patrick Oppmann, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL: Brazilian police say former President Jair Bolsonaro once again once planned rather to request political asylum in Argentina. That's document seen by the Associated Press. Police say Bolsonaro drafted a document requesting asylum two days after they searched his home in Connecticut in connection with his current criminal trial. Bolsonaro is accused of attempting to overturn Brazil's presidential election three years ago.

A parole board in California has denied Erik Menendez's parole request on Thursday. This after 10 hours of virtual hearings. Erik Menendez and his brother Lyle were convicted in the notorious 1989 murders of their parents.

They were originally sentenced to life in prison without parole, but they became eligible for release after a judge resentenced them in May. The board said Erik Menendez, however, continues to, quote, pose an unreasonable risk to public safety.

The decision does not bode well for Erik's brother Lyle, who is set to have his own parole hearing later today. Regardless of any parole recommendation, California's governor would have the final word on whether they are released or stay in prison.

[04:35:00]

Years after a devastating fire, Kenyans continue to demand justice from the British army. Still ahead here, how the aftermath of that blaze continues to haunt one community in Kenya.

Plus, Hurricane Erin moving away now from the U.S. East Coast. The threat of flooding, however, from the storm isn't over yet. An update for you after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:40:00]

HILL: At least 14 people were killed in two separate incidents in Colombia which authorities say were terrorist acts. Take a look at the scene here. This is after an explosion near a military base in Cali on Thursday. The Colombian military say a car bomb there killed at least six people and injured some 50 others. Also on Thursday, eight people were killed when a police helicopter crashed after a drone attack.

Now it's unclear whether the events are related. Colombia's President Gustavo Petra used the incidents though to call for drug trafficking gangs to be designated as terrorists.

Hurricane Erin is now moving away from the United States along though more than a thousand miles of the East Coast. The danger isn't over. While the storm did not make landfall, it did stir up life threatening rip currents that prompted dozens of rescues, especially in North Carolina's Outer Banks.

The National Weather Service as parts of southern New Jersey and southern Delaware could see major coastal flooding through Friday. And there's a higher risk of rip current that will likely remain through the weekend. Meantime, a tropical storm warning is in effect still for Bermuda.

Flames from a wildfire in Portugal suddenly changing direction on Thursday and engulfed a vehicle. You see it there. A firefighter was inside the vehicle at the time. Authorities say the firefighter did suffer severe burns but survived. More than 1,600 firefighters are battling these wildfires in central and northern Portugal, fires that have now killed at least three people in just the past week.

European Officials estimate some 274,000 hectares or 677,000 acres of vegetation have burned. It is southern Europe's worst fire season in 20 years.

The British government has agreed to pay compensation after its troops sparked a huge forest fire while training in Kenya. Locals, however, say that is not enough to deal with the aftermath of an ecological disaster that continues to affect them to this day. CNN's Larry Madowo spoke to some of the families who waged this legal battle against the British Army.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A forest fire raging through the hills of central Kenya in 2021 burning over 10,000 acres of protected land and smoldering the local community with toxic smoke.

The British army posted this video at the time of the troops tackling the blaze.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The local community behind us is safe and we're also quite aware that there's wildlife that we need to protect.

MADOWO (voice-over): Those words now jarring as neither the community nor the wildlife were ultimately kept safe.

The British government has agreed to pay out nearly $4 million to thousands of locals whose lives were changed forever by the fire, according to a settlement agreement obtained by CNN.

The blaze in the Lolldaiga Hills started during a training exercise of the British military inside a privately owned wildlife conservancy.

Speaking to me before the settlement was agreed, activist James Mwangi says the fire wrecked the environment and harmed people far outside the area.

JAMES MWANGI, LOCAL ACTIVIST: This area in 2021 March, it was a furnace. For seven days over 10,000 people were choked by smoke. That toxic smoke nearly everyone in this community has chest problems. Everyone.

MADOWO (voice-over): This is now our life, this woman told me, showing her inhaler. Hannah Wanjiku starts crying when she tells me about the sick grandchildren she is struggling to raise.

My grandchildren are all unwell, Hannah told me. Even I can no longer read and I've developed chest problems. She says, we live a difficult life.

Hannah, like so many members of the community, says she wants to use any compensation money she receives to leave the area and get away from the British forces. Kenya earns about $400,000 annually for allowing the British army to train here.

KELVIN KUBAI, LAWYER FOR VICTIMS: We actually went to court.

MADOWO (voice-over): This 27-year-old lawyer grew up in the area and filed a class action lawsuit against the British army after the fire.

KUBAI: Military training and conservation are incompatible. There is need to separate both of them. My client expected much more money from this payment, but this payment is nowhere close to give them the financial assistance to enable their move from this training.

MADOWO (voice-over): The British government has agreed to compensate more than 7,000 people whose lives were impacted by the smoke and flames, but they have refused to admit liability and have blocked locals from pursuing any further claims relating to the fire.

Many people here have been campaigning for years for justice. Some will receive just $170, their lawyer says. The British government said Thursday it was, quote, pleased that a global settlement has been agreed, saying that the Lolldaiga fire was extremely regrettable.

[04:45:00]

Many here tell us the behavior of troops from the former colonial power is becoming too much to tolerate.

Larry Madowo, CNN, Laikipia, Kenya.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL: Panic breaking out at Milan's main airport Wednesday after a man reportedly set a check in counter and fire. You see the blaze there in the background on your screen. Police say he poured gasoline on the counter and then lit it, leaving at least one person injured.

The suspect also smashed monitors with a hammer causing some people to take cover because they noise was gunfire. The 28-year-old man from Mali was tackled by police and is now facing charges related to property damage. Officials say he was hospitalized the day before when he launched a separate attack involving a hammer but managed to escape from the emergency room.

Some TikTok employees have apparently been concerned that app is addictive and could hurt young users' mental health. Those details after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:50:22]

HILL: TikTok has often claimed its platform is safe for young people. But we're now learning from new video evidence in a North Carolina court case that current and former TikTok employees have raised concerns about how the app's popular algorithm could impact the mental health of teenagers. CNN's Clare Duffy has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARE DUFFY, CNN TECH REPOTER: This video is part of a lawsuit that was filed by North Carolina last year against TikTok, accusing the company of designing the app to be, quote, highly addictive for young people, also accusing it of misleading parents and young people about the safety of the platform.

A judge ruled on Tuesday that this video should be unsealed and that the public should be able to see it. And I want to play for you a clip showing just a few of these employee comments because I think it's really striking to hear it directly from them. Take a listen.

BRETT PETERS, TIKTOK GLOBAL HEAD OF CREATOR ADVOCACY AND REPUTATION: We all have these really lofty goals of getting people to be on the app longer, like, literally. Like, that's, like, why we're all here is to help continue to diversify the content ecosystem to make TikTok a place where you can get so much different types of content that you never want to leave.

NICHOLAS CHNG, TIKTOK, FORMER ISSUES PROGRAM MANAGER: Unfortunately, some of the stuff that people find interesting are not always the most healthy. So I think we do have -- we do, in a way, encourage some of this content being put up.

ALLY MANN, TIKTOK, CREATOR LEAD MARKETING: We obviously wanted people to spend as much time as possible on TikTok, which is, can be in contrast to what is best for your mental health.

DUFFY: Now, it's worth noting that we don't know exactly when these comments were made, and it's also not totally unusual for internal teams at tech companies to have conversations about how to improve their platforms.

But North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson said he thinks this underscores the claims that they're making in this lawsuit. He tells me these videos prove what we've argued in court. Social media companies are keeping kids hooked to maximize profits, even at the expense of their health.

Now, TikTok has pushed back against the claims in this lawsuit and is also pushing back against the Attorney General's characterization of this video and these comments. A spokesperson told me the AG civil sizzle reel is a shameful attempt to distort an open internal conversation about making the platform safer when TikTok was just beginning five years ago.

This manipulation relies on conversations taken out of context with the sole purpose of misleading the public and grandstanding. The spokesperson also pointed to some of the youth safety features that TikTok has rolled out in recent years, everything from parental oversight tools to a meditation feature the platform recently introduced to try to keep young people from scrolling so much on the platform.

But I do think it's going to be interesting to watch how this video plays into this North Carolina court battle, but also a number of lawsuits that have been filed against the company in states across the country. Clare Duffy, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL: Buried beneath the waves for hundreds of years, relics of ancient city have now started to resurface in Egypt. On Thursday, crews working in the waters off Alexandria helped to hoist large statues and other artifacts from a sunken city dates back more than 2,000 years.

Egyptian officials say there is evidence the site may have been an extension of the ancient city of Canopus. Once a thriving port city along the Nile delta that's near present day Alexandria, the city was sunk by natural dis in the 8th century.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOHAMED ISMAIL, SECRETARY GENERAL, SUPREME COUNCIL OF ANTIQUITIES (through translator): These artifacts confirm the study that says that Alexandria was submerged by water as a result of a major earthquake or tsunami. This is why all the statues are missing the head and feet, which are the weakest parts of the statues. But the core of the body is the largest part of the statue, so it falls directly into the water.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Recent research has shown the modern day city of Alexandria and the areas around it are especially vulnerable to rising sea levels driven by the global climate crisis. And that could leave large parts of the region underwater or uninhabitable within just the next three decades.

A secret involving the seventh planet from the sun revealed. Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have spotted a tiny moon whirling around Uranus. It is the 29th known moon orbiting the gorgeous blue green ice planet.

Scientists found it in February by taking a series of long exposure images with an infrared camera.

[04:55:00]

They say it is a significant find here because the Voyager 2 spacecraft missed it in its flyby 40 years ago. It is thought that the moon and the planet's faint rings may have a common origin. And scientists say Uranus may have even more undiscovered moons.

The woman reputed to be the world's oldest living person turned 116 on Thursday. Ethel Caterham celebrating the milestone with her family in Surrey, England. She has three granddaughters, five great grandchildren. Born in 1909. She's the second youngest of eight children according to Guinness World Records. She said the key to a long life is making friends through a hobby you love.

Thanks so much for joining us for this hour of Early Start. I'm Erica Hill in New York. I'll see you at the top of the hour with more news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)