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Isa Soares Tonight
Western Nations Condemn Israel Over Gaza Aid; A Bangladesh Air Force Jet Crashes Into A School In Dhaka And Kills At Least 25 People; President Trump Marks 6 Months In Office; Epstein Case Casts Shadow Over Trump's First Six Months; Pentagon Withdraws 700 Marines from L.A. Aired 2-3p ET
Aired July 21, 2025 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[14:00:00]
CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, HOST, ISA SOARES TONIGHT: A very warm welcome to the show, everyone, I'm Christina Macfarlane in for ISA SOARES TONIGHT. Western
nations are slamming Israel, accusing it of drip feeding aid to starving Palestinians in Gaza. We'll have those details.
Plus, a search for answers after training flight crashed into a school in Bangladesh, killing more than a dozen people. And Donald Trump marks six
months in the Oval Office. We'll take a look at his report cards so far. Horrifying. That is how 25 western nations are describing what they call
Israel's drip-feeding of aid in Gaza as starvation takes hold in the besieged enclave.
Countries that have been Israel's allies, including the U.K., Canada, France and Australia, are now condemning the Israeli government. The U.N.
chief adding to that chorus of condemnation, saying the last lifelines keeping people alive are collapsing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(EXPLOSION)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: As more people die of hunger, Israeli tanks are rolling into a city in central Gaza which could be used for holding hostages. We're
hearing that from Israeli media, aid agencies and other witnesses. Until now, the Israeli military have avoided ground operations in the area of
Deir al-Balah.
The families of those hostages are criticizing this new move. And just hours ago, the United Nations also slamming Israel's new Gaza evacuation
order, calling it a devastating blow. A four-year-old girl is now one of the latest victims of Israel's strict limits on aid. Razan Abu Zaher(ph)
starved to death.
A medical source says she's one of dozens of children who have died from malnutrition since the war in Gaza began. Paula Hancocks brings us this
story, and we want to warn you, the video you're about to see is disturbing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Four-year-old Razan Abu Zaher(ph) was hospitalized with malnutrition more than one month
ago. "Malnutrition has caused her to suffer from a mobility disability", her mother says. Her health was good before the war, but there is nothing
to strengthen her.
No milk in the hospitals or pharmacies. Sunday, Razan became the latest child in Gaza to die of hunger. Her skeletal body laid out on a slab of
stone, painful proof of the famine the U.N. and others have long warned about. It is shocking, but should not be surprising. In the space of 24
hours, 18 deaths were caused by famine, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza.
Yasser Ahmad(ph) was waiting at this soup kitchen since 6:00 a.m., desperate to take something home to his family of 12. "Flour is expensive",
he says. "Everything here is expensive. Where can we get food from? We don't know what we'll do in the end. Eat each other?" When his turn comes,
the amount poured into his bowl is minimal.
He walks the 4 kilometers back home, when his wife sees how little is in the pot, she starts crying. "Is this enough for 12 people?" She asks. "Is
it enough for a woman who is seven months pregnant? Even a one-year-old child wouldn't be satisfied by this." Pouring the watery soup into one
bowl, the family eats together.
The father allows himself just one spoonful, leaving the rest for his children and grandchildren. After this, he says he will go to another soup
kitchen to see if he can keep starvation at bay for one more day. Israel says the military is working to allow and facilitate the transfer of
humanitarian aid into Gaza, including food.
Adding there are trucks yet to be picked up by aid groups. The U.N. says Israel often denies permission to move aid or approve routes too dangerous
to travel. Thousands across Gaza risk their lives every day in the search for food, at least, 73 people were killed Sunday by Israeli gunfire while
trying to access aid according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
The IDF says it quote, "fired warning shots in order to remove an immediate threat posed to them. It casts doubt on the death toll."
[14:05:00]
The U.N. says accessing aid has become a death trap. The U.N. World Food Program says Gaza's hunger crisis has now reached new levels of
desperation. Hospital officials say they're seeing an unprecedented number of starving citizens arriving at emergency departments. A man-made
catastrophe that has been continuously warned about. No one can say they didn't see this coming. Paula Hancocks, CNN, Abu Dhabi.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MACFARLANE: Well, more and more people in Gaza are facing the nightmare of burying loved ones who have died of hunger or were just killed trying to
get food. Palestinian officials say more than 1,000 people have been killed trying to collect aid since late May. Authorities and witnesses say it
happened again this weekend, accusing Israeli forces of shooting dozens of people who were waiting for something to eat.
The head of the U.N. World Food Program, Cindy McCain, has been talking to CNN about the shootings at aid sites. Have a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CINDY MCCAIN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, WORLD FOOD PROGRAM: What we saw were thousands of people running towards us, and they were hungry. They're
starving. And all of a sudden, the Israeli tanks, Israeli guns, Israeli weapons from all kinds started firing on the crowd. And it was -- it's
something that I hope never happens again.
But more importantly, our group, WFP, our people that work for us were there too, and they were put in grave danger as a result of that. No
humanitarian aid worker should ever be a target of anything.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: Well, CNN's Jeremy Diamond is standing by for us in Tel Aviv. And Jeremy, there we have a firsthand account from the World Food Program
about what happened in Sunday's deadly shooting, which takes the total death toll now at aid distribution points to over a 1,000. In the face of
this, how significant is it that today, 25 nations, countries who are known to be Israel's allies, have moved to condemn the Israeli government?
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's very significant and it's significant for a number of reasons. First off, because it marks
the latest instance of Israel's growing isolation on the world stage. I mean, these are not frequent critics of Israel. The countries that have
come out here, more than two dozen western countries led by France, the United Kingdom, Canada and the language that they're using is quite stark,
and it speaks to the undeniable nature of what we are seeing on the ground right now.
As these countries say, the suffering of civilians in Gaza has reached, quote, "new depths". They call this Gaza Humanitarian Foundation a delivery
model spearheaded by Israel itself. A quote, dangerous, and they say that it fuels instability and deprives Gazans of human dignity.
They are squarely placing the blame of the humanitarian crisis that is now unfolding inside the Gaza Strip at Israel's feet. And indeed, it is Israeli
restrictions on humanitarian aid. Israel's mode of delivery through this GHF foundation, the restrictions on the amount of aid that the United
Nations and the traditional humanitarian aid groups can bring in.
It is all of that, that is fueling what we are seeing inside of Gaza right now, not only the fact that just this week, we saw seven -- the 76th child
in Gaza since the beginning of the war, died due to malnutrition. But in addition to that, the -- you know, more than a thousand people now, as you
just noted, who have been killed by violence near these aid sites, largely by Israeli military fire directed at crowds of hungry Palestinians trying
to make it to these aid sites.
And at this point, the Israeli military isn't even denying that it's opening fire on these groups altogether. They call them, quote-unquote,
"warning shots, but they acknowledge that people have been killed as a result of these warning shots." They do dispute the total death toll
numbers. They say that it's not as high as what's being claimed on the ground.
But the bottom line is that, you know, whereas eight weeks ago, when this violence first began near these Gaza Humanitarian Foundation aid sites, the
Israeli government, the Israeli military were all denying that it had happened. Now it's become an almost daily occurrence, one that the Israeli
military isn't fully denying altogether.
And it simply doesn't seem like there is anything that is going to get it to stop, other than perhaps a ceasefire agreement, which would not only
stop the shooting, stop the bombardment of Gaza, bring out dozens of hostages, but in addition to that would also allow for an enormous surge of
humanitarian aid, which, as we can see right now, is desperately needed.
MACFARLANE: Yes, and in the face of the shooting, the starvation, we are reporting as well that Israel are preparing for a ground operation in Deir
al-Balah, which was an area that has been largely spared from bombardment up to now, because it's thought that the hostages were being held there.
[14:10:00]
So, why the move by Israeli military to do this now? And what does this spell for the thousands of Palestinians who had previously been viewing
this as a sort of safe haven of sorts?
DIAMOND: Yes, I mean, this is the first time that many people in Deir al- Balah have actually seen Israeli tanks rolling into this area. And you're right to point out that one of the reasons we haven't seen a major ground
offensive in that area is because of the fears that Israeli hostages could be held there, and that advancing Israeli troops into this area could
endanger their lives.
It was less than a year ago, recall that six Israeli hostages were executed by Hamas because Israeli troops were closing in on that location. And so,
we're hearing today as well, in addition, from Palestinians on the ground in Gaza, also from the families of Israeli hostages still held there,
expressing their concern about this latest military operation and demanding that the government explain how this operation is not going to endanger
their loved ones.
I think the most likely explanation for this offensive is that it's yet another effort by the Israeli government to use military pressure to try
and advance these hostage and ceasefire negotiations, and it comes, as I am told by sources familiar with the negotiations, that right now all parties
are waiting on Hamas to respond to the latest ceasefire proposal on the table.
It's been nearly a week now that they've had this latest proposal, where you have several key Israeli objections that have been removed following a
lot of pressure from the United States. Israel now agreeing to withdraw troops from that key corridor in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, known
as the Morag Corridor, that was viewed as one of the major last remaining sticking points in these negotiations.
I'm also told that privately, Khalil al-Hayya, the key Hamas negotiator, Hamas' leader outside the Gaza Strip has said privately that he is inclined
to accept this latest proposal, but they are waiting for a response from Hamas leaders inside the Gaza Strip. Those are the leaders who would
actually need to implement this agreement, and therefore they effectively have veto power over this.
We will see whether or not they agree. Hamas spokesman Basem Naim telling me that Hamas is conducting internal consultations right now over this
latest proposal.
MACFARLANE: All right, Jeremy, this is important reporting, we appreciate you. Thank you. Now, at least 20 people have died in Bangladesh after a
Bangladeshi Air Force jet crashed into a school in Dhaka. More than 170 people are also said to be injured. The training aircraft hit the campus of
Milestone School and College in Dhaka's Uttara neighborhood.
On Monday afternoon while students were attending classes, it marks the country's deadliest air crash in recent memory. This footage of the
immediate aftermath shows a large ball of fire as thick plume of smoke rises into the sky. Let's get more from Vedika Sud on the latest. And
Vedika, this is especially sad because I think some of the students were thought to be very young. Do we know anything more yet about how this crash
happened? Why this training jet lost control?
VEDIKA SUD, JOURNALIST: Christina, let me start with what we know. At about 1:06 p.m. local time, Dhaka, this military jet took off. It's -- it was
just a training jet that took off from the Air Force base in Dhaka. Now, 12 minutes later, the crash happened. According to officials and press
statements that have been coming out through the day-to-day, we've got to know that the pilot did try to steer away from the densely-populated areas.
Dhaka in itself is a highly populated city, the capital of Bangladesh. So, while the pilot was trying to steer away, we understand is when the jet hit
the two-storied building, which is a school, like you said. Now, from the website, we've got details of how the school houses children from the age
of 4 to 18.
Even if you see the videos coming in from Dhaka through the day, you'll see children running away from the crash site moments after this mishap took
place. Now, according to eyewitnesses, they heard a huge explosion followed by plumes of smoke and ash rising from this building. We're also being told
that the pilot also died in this incident.
Now, as far as the government there is concerned, we've had the caretaker of the government come out and say that in terms of the bodies that have
been identified as of now, they will be shortly handed over to the families. Meanwhile, DNA testing will continue for those that are yet to be
identified, this could take days or weeks.
[14:15:00]
But what we don't know right now, Christina, is why this crash took place. What was the technical glitch or fault because of which so many lives have
been lost? And this is a developing story. As of now, like you said, there are 19 dead and over 160 injured. But by tomorrow, those numbers will go --
will go up. We're hoping that the casualties don't.
But this, like I said, is a story that will take a few days to unravel in terms of casualties, in terms of injuries, in terms of collateral damage.
Back to you.
MACFARLANE: Yes, so many lives affected --
SUD: Yes --
MACFARLANE: But I'm sure the investigation will continue. Vedika, we appreciate your reporting. Thank you. Now, the latest chapter in the U.S.
President's pressure campaign against higher education is unfolding in a federal courtroom today. A judge is hearing arguments over the $2 billion
in Harvard funding frozen by the White House a few moments ago, a move the elite university calls illegal and unconstitutional.
The administration claims the school has failed to address anti-Semitism on campus, a charge Harvard denies. Meanwhile, alumni students and faculty are
rallying today in support of Harvard's push to maintain academic independence. CNN's Gloria Pazmino has been following the case for us all
day, then joins us now. And Gloria --
(CLEARS THROAT)
MACFARLANE: Excuse me, this is not just simply a case of what's at stake for Harvard, but of course, for all higher education in the United States.
I understand that the hearing has wrapped for today. Just talk us through what happened in court.
GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's exactly right. It was about a three-and-a-half hour hearing this morning. And you're absolutely correct
to point out that it is not just a case about Harvard versus the Trump administration, but rather about what this administration is trying to do
when it comes to higher education institutions here in the United States.
Harvard, of course, being perhaps the most famous all around the world, certainly the richest here in the United States, and also the oldest
university here in the country. There's a lot of symbolism that comes with Harvard University. And today, their lawyers tried to defend that, but also
the fact that they believe the Trump administration has acted illegally by freezing their funding.
They say that is a violation of their First Amendment rights, as well as their academic freedom. And they say that they are pushing back against
these demands that the Trump administration has made. You might remember back in January, Trump signed an executive order directing his
administration to increase enforcement on school campuses, specifically around this issue of anti-Semitism.
And in fact, that came up during the hearing today. And I want to just give you an idea of the arguments that were laid out by Harvard's attorneys. He
argued on Monday that the government was, quote, "in blatant and unrepentant violation of the First Amendment, as well as Title VI of the
Civil Rights Act."
He also said that cutting the funding was simply arbitrary and capricious, and he said that it would devastate long-running research projects,
eviscerate labs, and hurt careers. Now, Department of Justice attorneys for the Trump administration also had a chance to present their argument, and
they tried to tell the judge that this is not about the administration being anti-Harvard.
The lawyer said, quote, "that Harvard had been besieged", that's his word by anti-Semitism over the past two years. He called it sick. Federal
taxpayer dollars should not support this. He also said the government is pro-Jewish. Pro-Jewish students at Harvard, pro-Jewish faculty at Harvard,
again, trying to make this argument that the funding is being frozen because Harvard has refused to follow some of the demands.
Harvard University has, in fact, made some changes to their policies in the last several months as part of these negotiations. And we've heard
President Trump say that he believes Harvard will try to settle this out of court. That part is not yet clear. We do know that this judge overseeing
this case will have to make a decision in a very tight amount of time.
A deadline of September is what Harvard is requesting, noting that, that is when they are required to file paperwork in order to fund their grants. So,
a lot on the balance here, Christina, both -- just dozens of projects, scientific research, medical research that has been put on hold as a result
of this funding freeze.
And again, the larger picture of what it means to have an administration try and dictate to a private university what it should do and how it should
do it.
[14:20:00]
MACFARLANE: Yes, there is no precedence here, is there? It'll be fascinating to see this one play out. Gloria Pazmino, appreciate it. Thank
you. All right, still to come tonight, new details on the killings of a UC Berkeley professor in Greece. We'll have the latest from the suspect's day
in court. Plus, in the latest edition of Isa's Book Club, she sits down with author Kit de Waal to discuss her stunning new novel, "The Best of
Everything". You don't want to miss that conversation.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MACFARLANE: Welcome back. In Greece, five suspects appeared in court today for a plea hearing in the murder of a UC Berkeley professor. The American
professor was gunned down in broad daylight in Athens earlier this month, one day after attending a custody court hearing. His ex-wife's new partner
is the main suspect, and according to police, he has confessed to the crime.
Meanwhile, the victim's brother now says the professor's children have been placed in Greek protective custody. Elinda Labropoulou is tracking this
story for us live, joining us live now from Athens. So, Elinda just walk us through what happened in court today.
ELINDA LABROPOULOU, JOURNALIST: Well, it's been a dramatic day in court today. And just now, we heard that all five have been remanded in custody,
including the professor's ex-wife. This is particularly significant because you just mentioned the custody of the children. Now, all along, this has
been more than anything else about a custody battle between the two parents.
As we understand, a couple that got together ten years ago had two children, lived in the U.S., eventually came to Greece and got divorced.
Now, the professor was a dual citizen, a Polish-American citizen, as were the children, the mother was a Greek citizen. Now, what has emerged today
is that the mother felt very strongly.
She feared very strongly that her ex-husband would take the children to the U.S., he had the ability to take the children for one month a year. And
what her boyfriend said today was that the reason that led him to commit this murder was just to prevent the father from taking the children away
from his partner, because he could not bear to see this.
This has been his testimony. He has kept the woman completely out of this. There have been another three people have been involved. They are also now
remanded in custody as accomplices.
[14:25:00]
All four men have kept the woman out of this, and she's been pleading not guilty all along. This is significant as to what happens with the
children's custody because until now, the custody has been with the mother. But now that she's been remanded in custody herself, well, now we don't
know what's going to happen with the children who are in the -- in the care of social services in Greece.
We know that the Polish family of the victim has already asked for custody. So, it remains to see what's going to happen with that side of things.
Christina.
MACFARLANE: Yes, and one can't. But really, just think of those children in this moment and what this means for them and what will become of them. We
will obviously continue to follow this, Elinda, there in Athens. Thank you. Turning now to a deadly Russian missile strikes in Ukraine.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(EXPLOSION)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: Here you can see the aftermath of those overnight explosions in Kyiv. Nationwide air raid warnings were issued for most of the country, and
authorities say at least two people were killed with more than a dozen injured in the capital. Many took refuge in metro stations as the bombs
fell. One survivor describes the moment when he escaped the blaze.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OLEKSANDR BERDYCHEVSKYL, KYIV RESIDENT (through translator): There was a fire on the balcony smoldering from the neighbor's balcony. I ran to the
front door, but it was blocked. I realized that this was death. I ran back to the front door and probably fueled by adrenaline, managed to break it
down.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: As the world waits for the next round of peace talks, Matthew Chance reports on a Russian drone factory.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Over Kyiv, the ominous buzz of a Russian drone before it finds its target. Waves of
these attack drones pose a nightly threat against Ukrainian towns and cities. Now, we have a rare glimpse inside one highly secretive Russian
drone factory, where thousands of the cheap, simple and deadly weapons was actually flying off the assembly lines.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
CHANCE: This is now the biggest factory in the world for attack drones. The company CEO, who is sanctioned by the U.S., tells the Russian Ministry of
Defense television station. "It's secret". He says, "but we will show you something". And what we're showing is a vast and modern production facility
employing thousands hundreds of miles from the frontlines, and recently expanded, we're told, enabling Russia's escalating campaign of drone
strikes across Ukraine.
"We must give credit to the strategic foresight of those who foresaw that this war would be a war of drones", the CEO says. "And it's good we're
ready for it yet." Ukraine is waging its own drone war, of course, striking Kremlin forces deep inside Russia in highly sophisticated operations like
this one last month, targeting Russian strategic bombers.
Well, on the frontlines, drones from both sides have transformed the battlefield. But these unprecedented images from this one Russian factory
shows how the Kremlin is dramatically scaling up drone production. And its capacity to wage a long and devastating drone war in Ukraine. Matthew
Chance, CNN, Moscow.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MACFARLANE: All right, still to come tonight, well, President Trump is taking credit for reviving America in the first six months of his term,
others are in no mood to celebrate. Why the uproar over the Epstein case doesn't appear to be going away any time soon.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:32:35]
MACFARLANE: Welcome back. While President Trump tries to celebrate his first six months back in office, the Jeffrey Epstein scandal is still
hovering above the White House like a dark stormy cloud.
In a flurry of weekend posts, the president hailed what he called six months of winning, declaring that America's decline is over. His posting
spree also included calls to jail political opponents. All of this as bipartisan pleads to release more Epstein documents grow louder,
overshadowing a number of legislative wins for Mr. Trump over the last 180 days.
CNN Senior White House Reporter Kevin Liptak is joining us now to discuss. And, Kevin, I guess the Epstein saga is somewhat uncomfortable timing for
Trump at this six-month mark, and it's still pretty unclear as to where all of this is going to lead. It was interesting to see over the weekend, Trump
did acknowledge himself on Friday that moving to unseal, some of the Epstein files probably won't be enough to satisfy his MAGA base.
So, I wonder, you know, someone's covered the last six months in minute detail, how much do you think this represents a real threat to Trump's
political stability at this point?
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: I mean, I think in the near- term, the president could see continued agitation from some members of his base who want to see more information about Jeffrey Epstein. Although, I
will say the president historically has had such a grip on the Republican Party.
And, you know, in our poll that we took last week, as this Epstein controversy was swirling, we still found that 88 percent of Republicans
still approved of the job that President Trump was doing. And so, you do see how he has worked over the last several days to really kind of tamp
down on some of the discontent.
And one of the things that has sort of helped him along on that front was that Wall Street Journal article last week that alleged the president wrote
a letter to Jeffrey Epstein in the '90s. The president denied it. He's suing The Wall Street Journal, and that sort of had the effect of
coalescing his base, not around the Jeffrey Epstein matter, but of this, you know, enmity towards the mainstream media, which is sort of a unifying
force among MAGA Republicans.
And so, you do see how the president, at least at this point, as he tries to move forward, has sort of gotten his supporters to, you know, gather
around him on that front. But you do still hear agitation from some people who want to see more from the Justice Department.
[14:35:00]
The president is right that unsealing these grand jury records is not going to satisfy them, in part because they don't contain what those people want
to see, which is details about some of Jeffrey Epstein's associates who may have been involved in his criminal doings. And so, you can see how this
will kind of be a slow rolling thing for the president going forward. Really there's nothing that he'll be able to do that will satisfy a lot of
these people going forward.
I think another question is what will happen in Congress? There have this non-binding resolution calling on the Justice Department to release more
information, but we just learned today that Republican leaders in Congress are delaying a vote on that particular measure.
MACFARLANE: Oh, interesting. OK. Because it had been sort of bipartisan support for that. And on that, I suppose, I'm curious how much of an
opportunity you think this represents for Democrats, not just in the case of Epstein, but also in the face of some pretty unfavorable polling that's
also come out in recent weeks. Most recently, and I wonder if we can get this one up, over deportations.
A CNN poll showing 55 percent of Americans thinking Trump has gone too far in his support for ICE. So, do you think these missteps present an opening
for the Democrats? And if so, will they take it?
LIPTAK: I think those -- yes, they do present an opening, but I think it's an open question of how and whether they're able to sort of seize on the
moment. Democrats, at this point, you know, six months after Trump's inauguration, many months since they lost the general election, I think are
still, in a lot of ways, out in the wilderness trying to sort of grasp the moment, trying to determine what the best message is for the American
public, how to gain some of these people back that they lost in last year's elections.
They do seem to be coalescing around a flood the zone sort of strategy in a way that you haven't seen from Democrats in the past. And at least on the
Epstein matter, you hear a number of Democrats now, you know, raising questions about, one, Trump's own associations with Epstein. Questions
about why the Justice Department isn't releasing more information.
You know, I think it would be hard to imagine Democrats sort of gathering around what they acknowledged was conspiracy theory only a year ago. Now,
they're really trying to seize on this moment as a point of weakness for President Trump, at least when it comes to immigration.
I think there is still an open question of how the Democrats will find a way forward on that issue because even though, you know, now a majority of
Americans say that President Trump has gone too far in these deportations, the Democrats have also not really had a positive track record when it
comes to messaging this issue.
It was, at the end of the day, a big reason that Donald Trump won last year's election. They were dissatisfied with how the Biden administration
was handling that particular issue. And I don't know that we've heard sort of a clear viewpoint from Democrats going forward about how you balance,
one, the humanitarian concerns that Trump has sort of plowed through, but also the questions of how you maintain a sort of a border that isn't
flooded with undocumented migrants.
And so, I think it's an opening, but it's an open question of how they will sort of seize that opening going forward.
MACFARLANE: A and focusing for a minute on some of Trump's foreign policy promises, which I'm sure a lot of our international audience have been
following very closely. Trump's inability -- President Trump's inability to end conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine have been obvious frustrations for the
president, perhaps embarrassments as well.
LIPTAK: Yes.
MACFARLANE: But how much of a failure is that viewed at home? I mean, do Americans care that he has not been able to deliver on those promises? I
mean, I think, you know, for the most part, Americans are concerned about the domestic issues, about the economy, but I think sort of in the
abstract, there is an impression that Trump hasn't been able to resolve the conflicts that he promised that he would be able to resolve very quickly.
At least in the case of Ukraine, he said you'd be able to fix that within 24 hours of taking office. And on Gaza, as he was entering on office there
was this ceasefire agreement that he was very readily taking credit for, only to have it fall apart in a few months. And obviously, that war is
still raging on unabetted. So, I do think that Americans look at that and wonder why the president hasn't been able to follow through on some of the
promises he was -- made as a candidate. And it has proved to be an enormous frustration for him, at least on the Ukraine matter. You see him now very
frustrated at Vladimir Putin, someone he seems to have thought he had an under understanding with and would've been able to use that relationship to
bring the Ukraine conflict to an end.
[14:40:00]
Same with Benjamin Netanyahu in Gaza. You hear a growing amount of frustration inside the White House that Netanyahu is just to sort of
trigger happy with all of these various conflicts in the Middle East and isn't necessarily as intent on bringing that war to an end as perhaps Trump
had thought.
You know, the president is actively in search of a Nobel Peace Prize. And I think this is sort of the defining ambition of his over the next 42 months
that remain in his term is to try and bring those conflicts to an end.
MACFARLANE: All right. Six months in, 42 months to go. I hope you're pacing yourself, Kevin Liptak. We appreciate it. Thank you.
All right. Roughly 700 active-duty U.S. Marines deployed to Los Angeles during ICE protests and some are being sent home. The Pentagon says the
Marines restored order in the city and send a clear message that lawlessness will not be tolerated. California Governor Gavin Newsom accused
President Trump of sowing chaos and division by sending the Marines to Los Angeles.
All right. Still to come tonight, British author, Kit de Waal joins Isa's Book Club to discuss her new novel, "The Best of Everything."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ISA SOARES, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: Joining us on the book club this week is Kit de Waal with "The Best of Everything." Kit, welcome to the show.
KIT DE WAAL, AUTHOR, "THE BEST OF EVERYTHING": Thank you for having me. It's great to be here.
SOARES: It's great to have you here. This is an incredibly heartwarming, uplifting, at times, very funny book too. And it's centered on Paulette.
It's in the 1970s. And she has mapped out her life very early on, what kind of house she wants, what kind of crib she wants for her child. Every --
everything focused on the love of her life. Then it takes a nasty turn. And there's lots of surprises after that. Tell us a bit about the story and
what it's about.
WAAL: It really is about Paulette, but it's about really the what -- how you rebuild your life when your dreams have been shattered. So, yes, she's
in love with the great guy, you know, the good-looking man, and she thinks this is how life's going to go. I'll do that, I'll do that. This will work
out. It's no spoiler to say, because it's quite at the beginning of the book, that she -- that he dies.
SOARES: Yes.
[14:45:00]
WAAL: And for her, it's -- it is the death of her dreams. What do I do with my life now? And she has a baby for someone else, that's not a great
success. The relationship with someone else. And this baby becomes her life. And she says, I'm going to give this child the best of everything.
That's where the title of the book comes from.
But there's another child that comes into her life very unexpectedly, and she decides to show this little boy kindness and love with mixed results.
It's a great success in one way, it derails her life in another way.
SOARES: Can you speak to that relationship and why obviously her -- Paulette's life is her son?
WAAL: Yes.
SOARES: But then she has another boy that comes into her life and she feels that she needs to help out. And that kindness is returned to her. I'm not
going to say anything else. But can you speak to that relationship and that bond?
WAAL: Yes. It really is -- it really came to me from the way my mother behaved to children. So, she was a child minder. She was a foster carer.
She had five children of her own, and she also had mental health problems. She had real struggles in her life. But she was unfailingly, what does that
child need? And Paulette is very much the same. She sees this little boy, and against every instinct she has, because he doesn't come from a great
place.
SOARES: Slightly troubled, isn't he?
WAAL: Yes.
SOARES: Yes.
WAAL: He's very troubled, but he's desperate as well for love. And he -- she describes him as like a hungry cat weaving around her legs.
SOARES: Legs, yes.
WAAL: And she wants to give him love. She's got more than enough to spare and she wants to give him love and she does. But all through the book,
she's trying to go, OK, that's enough. Now, I've given you enough love, because the rest is for my son. Nevertheless, she gives more and she gives
more.
SOARES: And that really shows you there's different ways to be a mother.
WAAL: Oh, absolutely.
SOARES: Doesn't it?
WAAL: Mother --
SOARES: That's really -- mothering comes in many different forms and shapes, and I think that's wonderful.
WAAL: I'm an adoptive mother. I don't know what it is to be a natural mother, but I cannot imagine loving my children differently or more.
SOARES: You know what she also reminds me of, Paulette -- I'm not sure whether this, Kit, is a generational thing. My mother.
WAAL: Yes.
SOARES: My mother gave -- gives everything to her children, but she always puts herself last.
WAAL: Yes.
SOARES: And it's -- you know, I had this conversation, she's visiting from Portugal this week, and I had this conversation with her and I said, oh,
you could go. She said, I want you to travel the world or do this. You can still do it. You know, seven -- And she's like, I'm 73. There's no point.
I'm too old. And I'm like, no, this is a moment. Moment, don't give up on yourself. Moment of self-discovery. And I feel like that's very much what
you want for her, for Paulette, isn't it?
WAAL: Absolutely.
SOARES: This moment of the journey of self-discovery reawakening.
WAAL: Yes. Because she spends her life giving to everybody. You know, saying, oh, it's not about me, it's about me, it's about them, or it's
about her, or it's about him. And you do yearn for her because you make some really bad decisions.
SOARES: Yes, she does.
WAAL: And you really want her to go, hang on a minute, I've got a life. I've got a right to have happiness. I've got this. And all through the
book, you're sort of going, Paulette, don't do that. Don't do that. Do that. Because she deserves it, you know, as everyone does deserves. She's
got such modest desires. She deserves to have them fulfilled.
SOARES: Is this a generational thing or is just motherhood in --
WAAL: I still think there are mothers doing that, putting themselves last. I think we've come a long way, women, and that we do think we can have more
and should have more and we should have our needs acknowledged. But I think it's women. I think women do that. They subsume all of their desires until
then, till the children go to school, till the children leave home, till my husband's retired. Till that -- there's always a tomorrow.
SOARES: Yes.
WAAL: Whereas, a lot of men don't have the tomorrow feeling. It's like, now there's me.
SOARES: They also don't have the guilt. And this is a conversation I've had with my husband. Because I've always thought, do you feel it? And I wasn't
criticizing, simply, do you feel it? He goes, what?
WAAL: No.
SOARES: He doesn't feel it.
WAAL: No.
SOARES: So, you know, in terms from a physiological point of view, I thought that was really interesting.
WAAL: It is interesting. And I think what happens somewhere along the line is we have this phrase that you can have it all. You could have it all. But
it turned into you should have it all. And so, the role of the mother became sort of, you know, dirty word almost, if you stay at home and you
look after your children and all the rest of it became, oh, you know, you should be doing more with your life, which is true and which is fine, but I
think we are guilty if we go to work.
SOARES: Yes.
WAAL: We're guilty if we don't go to work.
SOARES: You can't win.
WAAL: You can't win. You've always got someone going, actually, should you be doing X or shouldn't you be doing, you know?
SOARES: Yes.
[14:50:00]
WAAL: If you see a child, for example, that's not looked after on the street and they're scruffy or they're dirty or they're badly dressed,
nobody goes, where's the father? They go, why doesn't the mother dress the child? Why doesn't the mother do X?
SOARES: Yes.
WAAL: Of course, later on they might think about the father, but the instinct is there is a mother's responsibility to look after the children.
SOARES: Yes. Look, this is a fantastic discussion. We loved it. Kit de Waal, really great to have you on the show. Thank you very much for coming
on.
WAAL: Thank you.
SOARES: I'm going to give you our pen.
WAAL: Thank you.
SOARES: There you go. And you get to sign it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MACFARLANE: Researchers in Antarctica have recovered an ice core sample that's over one and a half million years old. It's some of the oldest ice
on record and is now being examined by climate analysts in the U.K. They believe it could hold crucial details about a previously uncharted period
in the history of the Earth's atmosphere.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. LIZ THOMAS, BRITISH ANTACTIC SURVEY: We are standing in our cold laboratory in the British Antarctic Survey. We keep this laboratory at
minus 25 degrees, and that's because we've got very, very precious ice in here. And we have the ice here to analyze it, to unlock some of those
secrets around the climate in the past.
So, in Antarctica, when the snow falls, it doesn't melt, so it accumulates and it forms layer upon layer over millions of years. So, what we can do is
go and drill down through that ice sheet so much in the same way as an Apple core, you just core down and retrieve the sections of ice from in
between.
So, what we end up with is cylinders of ice that go all the way down through the ice sheet, and in this case, 2.8 kilometers.
So, the current oldest ice that we have goes back 800,000 years, and that's a fantastic record. But actually, we are interested in that period prior to
a million years ago because during that time, there's evidence to suggest that the ice sheets are actually smaller. Sea levels were potentially
higher and CO2, similar to today. So, it's a really interesting potential analog for our future climate.
So, this is a really exciting project to work on because we really are exploring and a completely unknown time in our history, and what we're
hoping is we're going to unlock all these amazing secrets.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[14:55:00]
MACFARLANE: Now, heads up for anyone traveling on holiday this summer. Ryanair employees may soon have a bigger incentive to stop travelers with
oversized bags. The company's CEO spoke about the issue to RTE Ireland News. He said the popular low-cost carrier may increase the bonus staff
received for every oversized cabin bag identified. Currently, employees are paid about $1.75 for each bag identified. Do not feel good about that.
Now, a banana worth millions of dollars has been eaten again. The piece by Italian artist, Maurizio Cattelan, called Comedian, is on display in a
French museum, but a visitor ate the banana central to the artwork. Earlier this month. It was replaced with a new one, just minutes later. Cattelan
said to be disappointed the visitor only ate the fruit and not the tape that held it in place.
The banana actually has been eaten a few times, most famously last year by Chinese collector who bought it for more than $6 million. Now, that is
absolutely bananas.
Thank you for watching with us tonight. Stay with CNN. I'll be back with "What We Know" after this short break.
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