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Isa Soares Tonight
U.S. President Trump Unveils a Key Condition to the Saudi Nuclear Deal One Day After It was Signed; Protests in India Rage on as Protesters Demand the Resignation of India's Education Minister Over Widespread Exam Paper Leaks; Firefighters Battle One of Spain's Biggest Ever Wildfires Amid a Mediterranean Heatwave. Trump: Saudis Must Join Abraham Accords for Nuclear Deal; Source: Secret Service Agent Suspected of Vance Info Leak; Deadly Police Shooting Ignites Protests in Wisconsin; OpenAI Models Break into Another Firm's Servers. Aired 2-3p ET
Aired July 23, 2026 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[14:00:00]
ISA SOARES, HOST, ISA SOARES TONIGHT: A very warm welcome to the show, everyone, I'm Isa Soares. Tonight, U.S. President Donald Trump unveils a
key condition to the Saudi nuclear deal one day after it was signed. The kingdom has to join the Abraham Accords, something it's been reluctant to
do. We are covering this story from all angles for you.
Plus, protests in India rage on amid an explosion of anger as Prime Minister Modi promises to deal with widespread complaints about education.
We will find traction nationwide, though. And firefighters battle one of Spain's biggest ever wildfires amid a Mediterranean heatwave.
But first, tonight, as a new front opens in the war with Iran, the U.S. is drawing closer to one of Iran's biggest regional rivals with the landmark
nuclear deal. But a major new condition just announced by Donald Trump is threatening to torpedo the agreement already signed by Saudi Arabia.
Now, there's a lot for us to cover this hour, but I do want to start in the Red Sea, where Iranian-backed Houthis say they hit two Saudi oil tankers
carrying out a threat to impose a blockade against Saudi shipment.
Now, President Trump says up until now, Houthis have acted very professionally and smart during the Iran war. Those were his words. He's
warning of major military punishment if these attacks continue. Mr. Trump also imposing a major condition today as I was saying earlier on the
agreement to give Saudi Arabia technology for a civilian nuclear program.
He says it will only happen if the kingdom signs the Abraham Accords, normalizing relations with Israel. The White House insists that was always
the plan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: This is a condition that the President has spoken about many times with our Gulf and Arab allies. He
wants to see these countries sign the Abraham Accord. It was one of the most historic accomplishments of his first term, and it continues to be a
long-term goal of his to expand those accords, to ultimately come to a place where the Middle East can be a peaceful and stable region.
And yes, this deal with Saudi Arabia, the energy deal is contingent on this condition as far as the President is concerned.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: We'll go live to our Nic Robertson in Jerusalem in just a moment. But first, I do want to go to Kristen Holmes who is at the White House. So,
Kristen, I'm a bit confused to be honest because the nuclear agreement with the Saudis was signed last night, not we've got this condition, and you
know, the White House saying there, Karoline Leavitt saying that, that was always the plan. So how -- why wasn't this announced when pre the signing
24 hours ago?
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's the big question. And it sounded like from Karoline Leavitt during this briefing
that President Trump raised this morning for the first time, despite the fact that she's also said it was always going to be part of the plan.
We asked her whether or not Saudi Arabia had agreed to sign the Abraham Accords, she said that President Trump had not talked to the Crown Prince
of Saudi Arabia since he set this condition earlier this morning, and would not give any more details than that.
In the past, Saudi Arabia has said it would not normalize relationship with -- relations with Israel unless there was a clear pathway to Palestinian
statehood, which Israel has said they will not do. So, how this actually moves forward, that's a huge question here.
But there is also this question of, well, what did they sign, and what is the meaning of them actually signing something if it's not going to go into
effect, and how you kind of place a last-minute condition on something that, again, has already been signed.
Now, there was a lot of negativities around this deal from senators, senators that he talks to. There was also a lot of bad press around it,
people calling for this deal not to happen. So, perhaps President Trump was looking at some of that, talking to these senators and wanted to come up
with some kind of way to sweeten the pot for him, for the White House.
But whatever the reason being, it's still very unclear how this deal can be, quote, unquote, "off" for a contingency that was placed after both
sides had signed this deal moving forward.
[14:05:00]
SOARES: Yes, look, we haven't heard from Saudi Arabia, but we did hear from Karoline Leavitt, saying if Saudi Arabia doesn't sign it, the deal is
off. So, we'll have to see what Riyadh has to say on this. Let's turn, though, in the meantime, to Iran, because we are starting to see rhetoric
really hardening, Kristen, on both sides with Secretary Rubio talking about an eye for an eye.
This comes after days of threats. And now, we have the Houthis escalating. What is the strategy? What is your -- what is your sense and the messaging
you're getting from administration regarding the strategy going ahead, given what we have seen from the Houthis?
HOLMES: It is so deeply unclear what the strategy is of the administration. And that is even more amplified today after CNN has new
reporting that the CIA and the DIA; the Defense Intelligence Agency, have recently assessed that this kind of nightly strikes and the bombing that
the United States is currently engaged in, is not likely to move the Iranian negotiating position.
So, what exactly are they going to do? Because right now, these two sides remain in a deadlock. And I hear this kind of optimism from members of the
administration, from senior officials who say within the next two weeks, things will settle down.
But there's no clear reasoning as to how things will start to settle down. And a reminder is that there was this kind of ceasefire, ten-day ceasefire
that was presented by mediators to the White House. Since then, the White House, President Trump has continued to order these strikes every night,
obviously dismissing it.
We were told by a U.S. official at the time that President Trump is still getting back or retaliating against Iran for both breaking the ceasefire
and for the death of American troops. But at this point, it just is unclear where he goes from now.
Now, he did a brief phone interview with another reporter where he said, he's considering a massive military strike, unclear if that meant troops on
the ground or some kind of amplified military action, and the kind of strikes that we're seeing every night right now.
But he's been saying that for several weeks. So, this isn't kind of a new statement, this idea that he has been weighing his options has been
happening for quite some time.
SOARES: Stay with us, Kristen, we've got our Nic Robertson with us, who is joining us from Jerusalem. So, Nic, you know, Kristen and I were talking
about this deal that or agree -- this nuclear agreement that we were hearing and the United States saying, now it won't happen unless
normalization, of course, goes through on the Abraham Accords.
From what I understand, and you know this story better than most. Saudi Arabia has previously said it would not recognize Israel without the
establishment of a Palestinian state. So, how realistic, then, is this condition?
Because Karoline Leavitt; the White House Press Secretary said a few hours ago, Saudi Arabia doesn't sign, the deal is off.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Look to me, from all the conversations I have had with Saudi diplomats, the top tier and rungs
down below over the past couple of years, the message -- and I've kept pushing back on, well, can't you sort of do a normalization?
Isn't that going to improve the situation? And you know, there's a -- there's a -- you know, a peace in Gaza now, which has been a big part of
the problem, how Israel responded to Hamas' brutal attacks on October the 7th.
Twelve-hundred Israelis killed, 25 -- 250 Israelis taken hostage, and more than 70,000 Palestinians killed in the aftermath. The Saudis, the message
I've got back every single time, and it's become stronger and clearer without equivocation, that unless Israel is willing to recognize a
Palestinian state, a viable non-sort of reversible pathway to a Palestinian state, then there's no moving forward on normalization.
And the frank assessment in Saudi Arabia is that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu isn't the Prime Minister of Israel that can deliver that, because
they don't believe that he sincerely wants to have a Palestinian state. And they've listened to it.
They've listened to the times when he has uttered those words. So, it does seem to me what the White House has introduced here. And look, let's face
it, this was a pretty big about-turn. It is a road-block at the moment. There could be ways around it.
Let's not preclude that. Don't expect the Saudis to go public with their anger and frustration. They're very good at keeping -- about keeping that
in. But I would say just look at where we are tonight just to bring in the Houthis, and they're hitting Saudi oil tankers in the -- in the Red Sea.
And President Trump saying, if you do that again, I'll come in and hit you Houthis and I'll hit you, Iran, because you are behind that. And the
Saudis, from the sources I've been talking to, have been saying that if the Houthis were to do this sort of action, then they would -- the Saudis would
have a military response against the Houthis.
[14:10:00]
That could be a pretty big escalation. To do that, they're going to want to know that they have the United States at their back. If you're in Riyadh
right now, and you're trying to figure out what is your move against the Houthis, and where is President Trump behind you on that?
What is said today, can you count on it tomorrow? This is sort of just a microcosm, a small slice, if you will, of the uncertainty that's going on
in this region at the moment.
SOARES: Such great insight on the Houthi front. Nic, thank you very much, really appreciate it for us there in Jerusalem, also to Kristen Holmes at
the White House. Well, the EU is calling the Houthi's threats to impose a maritime blockade, as Nic was saying there, the Red Sea, a dangerous
escalation, saying it could jeopardize regional stability.
The Iran-backed militants are threatening to shut the Bab al-Mandab passage to vessels linked to Saudi Arabia, and that could put an even heavier
strain on international shipping as hundreds of ships remain stranded in the Strait of Hormuz.
EU Foreign Policy chief Kaja Kallas is calling on Yemen's Houthis to cease all actions that could endanger international shipping. Let's get more on
this. I'm joined now by Colin Clarke; the Executive Director of The Soufan Center.
Colin, great to have you back on the show. Look, the last time you and I spoke, we were talking not many months ago -- we were talking -- we were
discussing the threat from the Houthis, and here we are again with the Houthis seemingly making good on their threat to target Saudi ships in the
Red Sea.
How significant is this? And what do you make of what you just heard? I'm hoping you heard what Nic was saying there of the Saudis and how they
respond to this.
COLIN CLARKE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, THE SOUFAN CENTER: Thanks for having me, Isa. You're right, we've been having this conversation since the war kicked
off back in late February. And a lot of speculation at the time was, which of Iran's proxies would jump into the mix and come to Tehran's aid?
The Houthis have largely sat this conflict out, and, you know, most, including myself, suspected that wasn't because of a lack of capability,
but because the Iranians were holding them as an ace up their sleeve or keeping them around for a rainy day.
I think what this conflict has proven so far is that Iran has a real knack for timing, and it understands this phased approach to the war, hence the
timing of Houthi involvement. When oil is going up and there's a lot of political pressure on Trump, this was well played by the Iranians. However,
it could still escalate if the Saudis are now dragged in.
SOARES: Yes, and I'm going to ask my producer, Vicky(ph), can you bring up that map again? Just want to show viewers where the Bab al-Mandab Strait
is. But it is the choke-point right at the southern end of the Red Sea.
There we go. If we bring the banner down so people can see it, right? You can see it now. Look, it isn't as crucial the Strait of Hormuz, but it
still matters, I think 6.2 million barrels of oil have been traveling. I was looking at it today through the Strait every day for the past month.
So, the question then becomes, Colin, how does the U.S. react? What does President Trump do about this? Because on Tuesday, he was shrugging off the
threat of the Houthis, saying, I think he said something -- we'll just have to take care of business. How does he do this?
CLARKE: Look, the President is coming across as a one-trick pony. Because he's threatening overwhelming force. Well, if bombing the Houthis was
effective, they would have been defeated by now. That's clearly now the case.
Think about the favorable terrain in northwestern Yemen, very mountainous cave complexes. The Houthis are masters of the shoot-and-scoot shooting
drones and missiles and then getting back, you know, into places where they're not as vulnerable.
This is one of the world's leading terrorist and insurgent groups. And moreover, if you think about who is in charge now in Iran, right? The IRGC
hardliners that are now running the country, they've spent the past two decades watching the United States fight in Iraq and Afghanistan.
They understand the pressure points. They understand the leverage that asymmetric warfare brings. And frankly, I think they understand quite well
domestic political constraints that the president is facing at the moment.
SOARES: Yes, let's broaden that conversation if you don't mind, because -- and the strategy here from Iran, because Secretary Rubio said Iran is
begging for a deal, I'm not sure whether you heard him say that.
But meantime, we have seen Iran hitting Kuwait, hitting Jordan, Bahrain, bringing Houthis into the fold. What is the message from Iran, and what do
they -- what could they have next up their sleeve?
CLARKE: Well, I don't think the Iranians are begging for a deal. I think that's a smokescreen from the administration because they've been caught
flat-footed. I think what's next for Iran? There's a number of different pressure points in addition to their proxies.
[14:15:00]
Think about their mosaic defense. It's very layered. It's very decentralized. They've clearly retained the ability to launch missiles and
drones at Gulf Arab states to disrupt the global economy and essentially hold it hostage.
And we haven't even gotten into Iranian transnational terrorism capabilities. One of my concerns in March was the potential for sleeper
cells, either in the United States, or elsewhere in the west, in Europe. That's something that we haven't seen yet.
Is it because that capability doesn't exist, or is it because that's just another tripwire that the Iranians are looking to use should things
escalate further, i.e., a potential U.S. military ground invasion.
SOARES: Colin, I always learn so much from your analysis, really appreciate it. Colin Clarke there for us. Good to see you, Colin. Well,
this hour, oil prices as you would expect, given everything we've heard from Jerusalem and there, from Colin regarding what's happening in the
Strait.
Oil prices are surging as the widening conflict in the Middle East threatens to further squeeze global supplies. Brent Crude, the global
benchmark has topped $100 a barrel for the first time that since May.
WTI crude, as you can see there, benchmark is also up 93.18. Let's get more from our Anna Stewart. Just to really add to this, we've got the
geopolitical -- but let's get on the economic, Anna, and really picking off what we heard from Colin Clarke there.
And there's this real fear that the Houthis are creating a second chokehold, right? Speak to the impact that the pressures this is putting of
course, on global oil supplies right now.
ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this is a sort of second crisis for tankers, essentially in the region, which is certainly not what they
needed. Prices for Brent nearly at $102 a barrel right now. Just to give that some context.
At the beginning of this month, Isa, we were seeing oil prices back sort of before pre-war levels. They are up more than 40 percent at this stage just
this month. So, this is a significant increase. Now, this is due to the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which we of course, have known
about, very few vessels making that transit right now due to all the attacks.
But to then strangle the next choke-point, which is in the Bab al-Mandab Strait that you were looking at there, that creates serious issues,
particularly for a country like Saudi Arabia, which had actually managed to divert around 70 percent of their crude oil from the Strait of Hormuz,
where they usually export a lot of it right across the country through the east-west pipeline down to the Red Sea.
Now, there is this huge risk that they will be unable to export from there as well. You can see the country there. I mean, it's quite a significant
undertaking to move oil from one side, one coast to the other coast --
SOARES: Yes --
STEWART: As you can imagine. However, if this stranglehold holds, you know, you're looking at maybe 6 percent-7 percent of global oil being taken
off the market. And as we already know, we're already seeing huge constraints in terms of supplies.
So, for me, the question is, is this going to be a full blockade? Currently, the Bab al-Mandab still had 43 transits yesterday. However,
there were the attacks on two ships. Will we see this reduce significantly like the Strait of Hormuz? Clearly, investors are very concerned that, that
is the direction we are heading in.
SOARES: Yes, and that is the fear, of course and the impact on inflation and so forth. Anna, great to see you, thanks very much indeed. And still to
come tonight, President Trump says Saudi Arabia must normalize relations with Israel, as you heard me discuss at the top of the show, or he won't
give the green light to a new landmark nuclear deal.
I'll speak with the former Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, about that and the potentially huge impact the agreement could have across the region.
And young protesters in India aren't backing down from their demands. What Prime Minister Narendra Modi is promising after weeks of demonstrations.
You are watching CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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SOARES: Well, protesters in India are now demanding the resignation of the Education Minister. Young demonstrators have taken to the streets of New
Delhi for weeks, partly over a leaked exam paper scandal. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is addressing the issue for the first time, promising swift
and stringent punishment for those involved. One Minister promises that the government is ready to listen. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JITENDRA SINGH, ATOMIC ENERGY DEPARTMENT MINISTER, INDIA: It is my humble appeal to the students on agitation that the government is ready for talks
whenever you want, at whichever hour of the day, and for as much length of time that you wish to.
We are ready to discuss the issue on which the agitation has happened and all the other related issues as well with an open mind.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: Let's get more on this from CNN's Rhea Mogul.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RHEA MOGUL, CNN REPORTER (voice-over): The so-called cockroaches first filled New Delhi's streets, now they're showing up thousands of miles away
from New York to London, supporters of India's cockroach protests are going global, amplifying a movement in India that's become one of the biggest
challenges to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government.
And it's growing at home too, some of India's biggest celebrities have voiced solidarity. Bollywood superstar Salman Khan praised the students'
dedication and has called for a solution. Support galvanized after a police crackdown on protesters earlier this week when tens of thousands of mostly
young people marched through New Delhi.
They're demanding the resignation of India's Education Minister and sweeping reforms to an examination system they say denies millions of
students a fair chance at success. Police fired tear-gas, batons swung, injuries were reported on both sides, but the protesters aren't backing
down.
They've reclaimed their main protest site in the capital, vowing to stay for as long as it takes. India's opposition has seized on the anger,
calling for Modi's resignation and clashing with police.
(On camera): On Thursday, while avoiding any direct reference to the protest, Modi said India's youth were quote, "important", and pledged
action against exam paper leaks. A rare acknowledgment for a leader known for keeping a distance when the political pressure mounts.
(Voice-over): Modi has weathered major crises before, from year-long farmer protests against agricultural reforms to public anger during India's
COVID pandemic. But this challenge may be different. Nearly two-thirds of the country's 1.4 billion people are under 35.
And Modi can't afford to lose the support of India's youth, making them not just the face of this movement, but potentially one of the most powerful
political forces in the country. Rhea Mogul, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOARES: Well, thanks to Rhea Moghul for that. Well, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. They met
a short while ago on the sidelines of the Asian Foreign Ministers meeting in the Philippines.
Neither answered reporters' questions about Russia's war in Ukraine, or whether Russia was supporting Iran's attempts to target U.S. troops. The
U.S. State Department later said they discussed the U.S.-Russia relationship and the need to end the war in Ukraine.
And still to come tonight, why one of the U.S. Vice President's Secret Service agents has been placed on leave. We'll tell you all about the
secret info he is suspected of leaking. And protests in the U.S. after a deadly police shooting in Wisconsin. We'll take a close look at the case.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:25:00]
SOARES: Welcome back, everyone. At the top of the show, we told you about President Donald Trump's new requirement that Saudi Arabia must join the
Abraham Accords as part of a civilian nuclear deal with the U.S.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is applauding that demand, which would establish diplomatic ties between his country and the Saudis. But a
number of his political opponents in Israel are calling the overall agreement with Riyadh a strategic disaster.
There are very real fears the deal could allow the Saudis to eventually build nuclear weapons and set in motion a nuclear arms race in the region.
Well, I'm very pleased to get the perspective of the former Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, a very well-known show -- face here on the show.
Mr. Olmert, great to have you back on the show. Let me give you a sense first of all what we heard from the White House Press Secretary in the
what? In the last two hours or so, she basically said that the U.S.-Saudi deal, which was signed yesterday is off unless Saudi Arabia normalizes
relations with Israel.
But as we know, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has repeatedly said there can be no normalization without a credible path for Palestinian statehood
and indeed for calm in Gaza. Does this new condition then make a breakthrough more likely, or does it make normalization even harder to
achieve?
EHUD OLMERT, FORMER ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: Well, I think it will make it probably harder on the first place, but I have a problem with this
agreement even before this new demand of President Trump has been made.
I think that on these days when the nuclear issue is on top of the priorities and is probably one of the reasons for the possible American
comprehensive military attack on Iran, to allow any country in the Middle East at this point to engage in enriching without -- enriching uranium
without a top control of the IAEA, the Atomic Energy Association in Vienna, it's not compatible to what we are trying to do here. We're trying to
reduce the involvement in nuclear and here comes a new agreement, which was signed already.
Now, I understand that there is a new condition that it has to be joined by the normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel. I'd definitely be in
favor of normalization with Saudi Arabia. I know that the precondition of Saudi Arabia, of MBS, was for a long time the movement on the Palestinian
issue. I'm very much in favor of the movement on the issue.
I'd love Israel any time, any minute, to embark on a dialogue with the Palestinian Authority towards a two-state solution. I don't think it will
happen and I would be very surprised if the Saudis will accept the normalization condition, the demand of President Trump for joining the
Abraham Accords, without anything done by Israel towards the Palestinians.
ISA SOARES, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: Yes. And we'll talk about the Saudi and the Palestinian and the Gaza issue in just a moment, but let me just
pick up on your first point, really, because there is a concern, right, that the deal could plunge the region into a new arms race. We're talking
about that because it would grant, from what I understand, Saudi Arabia a future option to enrich uranium on its own soil with less oversight, as you
were saying, from the IAEA.
I mean, as a former prime minister, how would that be received in Israel? How would you consider that? Would you even consider that an acceptable
security risk for Israel?
OLMERT: Under different circumstances, I would have to think about it, but considering the situation right now, there is a danger, which is a
likelihood, not that Saudi Arabia will try to change it into a military program. But as a result of the Iranians having -- the Saudis having a
nuclear program, that Turkey would like to have a nuclear program, and perhaps other countries will try to have a nuclear program, and it will go
-- it will blow out of control and proportion.
And with all due respect to President Trump, he's going to be president for another two years. What will happen afterwards, I don't know, and I'm not
certain that I'd love to have that be left for changing political circumstances, which may turn it into something entirely different from
what it was supposed to be in the first place.
So, yes, I'm not happy with this. And I think that what surprises me -- I'd say, to put it very mildly, what surprises me is that probably, apparently,
it seems like it was signed without any participation of Israel in the first place. No information, no participation between the American
government and Israel. It was signed behind the back of the prime minister of the State of Israel, which is rather surprising, I'd say.
SOARES: Yes. And why so many of us are scratching our heads today when we heard of that. Mr. Olmert, always great to see you. Thank you very much
indeed.
OLMERT: Thank you.
SOARES: Now, a Secret Service agent assigned -- you're very welcome. A Secret Service agent assigned to protect U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance has
been removed from his job. The agent is suspected of information about the vice president's travel plans to the media. The agent was placed on leave
shortly after a story which said Vance's Secret Service detail is frustrated at the amount of personal non-government travel on the Vice
President's schedule.
Our senior White House reporter Betsy Klein is tracking the story. So, Betsy, just bring us up to date with the latest. Where are we? What are you
learning?
BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, it was just last week that our colleagues over at MS NOW had this really fascinating story about
tensions within Vice President J.D. Vance's U.S. Secret Service security detail. And in this story, there were some concerns from agents about the
burdens of the amount of travel that the vice president and members of his family were doing, often on short notice. But there was a very specific
detail in there that the vice president plans to travel aboard Marine Two with his young son to Joint Base Andrews for a planned golf lesson.
[14:35:00]
Now, that specific flight was ultimately scrapped, but this raised major alarm bells in the FBI, the Secret Service, along with the White House
about how this kind of information could be disclosed to the press.
Now, a Secret Service agent, we have learned on Vance's detail, has been suspended, put on administrative leave and is under an internal review
after being suspected of leaking the information for this story. We heard from Secret Service spokesman, Anthony Guglielmi. He says that this person
is the subject of an administrative investigation and he says a potential criminal inquiry, meaning this person could potentially face criminal
charges for the information that was shared with the press.
And this story was remarkable because one of the hallmarks of the U.S. Secret Service is their discretion. It is extremely rare and unusual for a
member of a vice presidential or presidential detail to give this level of detail about a protectee.
And I spoke with one former agent to get their reaction to this. They said that this exposes a vulnerability within the Secret Service. They said that
this person who shared that information telegraphed specific information about movements of both a protectee and a second protectee, the vice
president's son, who is a minor. He said that it is Secret Service's job to keep that person out of the spotlight and he has just firmly put them right
in there. He called that, quote, "negligence at the highest degree."
But this story also speaks to something that I have been tracking for years, and that is a morale crisis at the Secret Service. This a high-
stress, high-intensity job, an unprecedented threat environment, agents dealing with all of that as well.
SOARES: Thank you very much, Betsy. We're bringing you up to date with the very latest. While protests have broken out in the U.S. State of Wisconsin
after a deadly police shooting, it happened on Wednesday in the state capital of Madison. This video was taken by a bystander and shows the part,
as you can see there, of the confrontation. Now, according to police, they were responding to reports of someone checking out parked vehicles.
They say a man fled when police questioned him. Eventually, there was a confrontation. The man allegedly took out a knife and injured one of the
officers. He was shot and killed. The state's governor is demanding transparency into what happened.
Our Whitney Wild joins us now for more. So, Whitney, what more are you learning there on the ground? Give us a sense, like, try to fill in the
gaps here for our viewers.
WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: Police say that this started Wednesday afternoon when they were responding to a report of a man
checking parked vehicles. They tried to contact that man, and then he took off on a bike behind backyards through the Madison area. They were able to
catch up with him a little while later, and when they did, those four officers got into a struggle with this man.
The video that was captured by bystanders shows a few things. It shows one officer yelling, he's got a knife. It shows another officer yelling taser,
taser, taser moments before the shooting, and it shows a third officer opening fire on that man. Law enforcement says that this man with the
knife, and they say that it was a large fixed-blade knife, injured the officer who shot him. We know that he died from his injuries.
Right now, those four officers are on administrative leave. This case is being investigated by the Wisconsin Department of Justice's Division of
Criminal Investigation. There is quite a bit of video from bystanders in the area, and we know the law enforcement has suggested that there may be
more video, but notably there will not be body-worn camera video, and that is because the Madison Police Department does not have a broad policy for
deploying body-worn cameras.
Still a lot of questions to be answered at this time. We are still working through some of those details and trying to get as much video of this
incident as possible, but right now, the key facts here are a man is dead after this officer involved shooting. Four of those officers are on
administrative leave. The Wisconsin Department of Justice is investigating. Back to you.
SOARES: Whitney, I know you'll stay across there for us. Thank you very much indeed.
And still to come tonight, an A.I. test gone wrong. We'll tell you how some rogue A.I. models escaped from the testing environment and hacked into
another company's servers.
And then firefighters in Spain battle one of the largest wildfires in the country's recent history. Both those stories after this very short break.
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SOARES: Now, it sounds like something out of a sci-fi movie. A rogue A.I. breaks out of its testing environment and then hacks into another company's
service. But it is not fiction. It actually happened to OpenAI, one of the leading artificial intelligence companies in the world. The escape happened
during an OpenAI cybersecurity test. Several OpenAI models figured out the easiest way to compete the test was to cheat. They found a backdoor onto
the internet and then hacked into the service of another company called Hugging Face to find the answers they needed.
Let's bring in CNN's A.I. correspondent Hadas Gold with more. So, Hadas, just take a step back for us because from what I understand, OpenAI said
this was an internet control testing environment, right?
HADAS GOLD, CNN A.I. CORRESPONDENT: Yes. So, when A.I. companies are testing their new A.I. models, they want to test their capabilities. What
can they do so that they can better prepare for the full scope of these new A.I. models?
And so, they do remove some of the internal safety guardrails. But these tests are supposed to be happening in a controlled environment known as a
sandbox. You can think of it like when a scientist is studying a virus. They do so in a biocontainment lab with a lot of safety precautions so that
the virus won't escape and get a bunch of people sick. And so, these A.I. models are supposed to be tested in the same way.
In this case, OpenAI said that there was some very limited network connectivity where the A.I. models were supposed to have access to this
third-party internal software where they could download certain packages to help them on this test, but it wasn't supposed to be access to the open
internet. But what the models did is they found an exploit, a vulnerability in that software that neither the software company nor OpenAI knew existed,
used that exploit to get access to the open internet.
And then reasoned by itself, they were never told to do this, that Hugging Face, which is a platform that's very popular in the A.I. world as a
repository for open-source models and datasets, that Hugging Face would most likely have the answer to the test and hacked into Hugging Face's
systems to get the answer to the test.
Hugging Face noticed the hack actually and even informed law enforcement thinking, you know, this a hack. Someone's trying to hack into our systems.
They recognized it was a very advanced agentic model, but they didn't know where it was coming from. Eventually, they connected with OpenAI and they
realized what was actually happening. This wasn't, you know, a foreign adversary. This wasn't a criminal network. This was an OpenAI test model
that escaped its lab.
SOARES: So, what can we learn from this, Hadas? I mean, could this lead to more kind of cybersecurity breaches? Because that is one of the fears from
what you were just laying out there.
GOLD: Yes. So, this something that experts have been warning about for some time.
[14:45:00]
I'll read you OpenAI's statement where they acknowledge what happened here and how significant this is. They say, we consider this incident to be an
unprecedented cyber incident involving state-of-the-art cyber capabilities and are responding accordingly. They say they are sharing preliminary
findings at this stage to help defenders understand what happened and to help calibrate on what models are now capable of.
Because there have been other instances of agents or agents of this sort of escaping their sandbox or doing something that we weren't expecting. But
this the first, at least publicly disclosed, incident where an agent that was given, sure, a task to do so, strung together all of these exploits and
went so far as to, you know, find its way to the internet and find its way to hack into a totally different company systems.
And so, a lot of cybersecurity experts say this the future. So, the head of Palo Alto Networks, one of these really well-known cybersecurity firms, he
wrote on X, welcome to the next level of cyber incidences, talking about how this shows the urgency that all -- every company, this isn't just if
you're a tech company, this if you're a bank, this if you're a utility, anything.
You need to be prepared for agentic attacks, not just from bad guys or from foreign adversaries, but just think about if what would have happened if
OpenAI was testing, how good are their models at hacking into a utility? That's something you need to know, right? But what if that model escaped
and actually managed to hack into one of our utilities? You can just imagine the chaos that that would cause.
SOARES: Absolutely frightful. Hadas, thank you very much indeed for laying it all out for us. Hadas Gold there for us in New York.
Well, a teenager in Florida is dropping his addiction case against Meta days before the trial was set to begin. He sued the parent company of
Instagram and Facebook, as well as other social media platforms, alleging that he suffered mental health challenges after their addictive design
hooked him. The teen settled his case with YouTube, TikTok and Snap in recent weeks, but he dropped the case against Meta without receiving any
payment. That is, according to the company, Meta says his claims never held up. Meta and YouTube were found liable in a similar case earlier this year.
Well, the E.U. is fining Google $1 billion for breaching rules aimed at curbing the power of big tech. It is the first time the company has been
penalized under the Blocks Landmark Digital Markets Act, or DMA. The European Commission found Google failed to comply with the DMA by promoting
its own services, including, for example, hotels, shopping and transport on Google Search over those of competitors, and by restricting the way app
developers sell their services.
And still to come tonight, Tropical Storm Bertha may be hitting Louisiana and Texas, but it may pose a bigger threat to people hundreds of miles
away. New flood threats across the U.S. East Coast, next.
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SOARES: Well, hundreds of firefighters in Spain are battling one of the country's biggest wildfires on record. It's happening in central Spain in
rural Guadalajara. Dozens of villages are facing mandatory evacuations just days after deadly blaze took hold in the southern part of the country. As
CNN's Pau Mosquera reports, a new heatwave is adding to the difficulty there.
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PAU MOSQUERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Emergency sirens have become an all-too-familiar sound during Europe's summers. Increasingly frequent,
intense and prolonged heatwaves are making scenes like this more common across different parts of the continent.
In the commune of Saumos in southwestern France, a wildfire that broke out on Wednesday forced the evacuation of more than 10,000 people after burning
through 2,000 hectares of land. It's a nightmare that residents of the idyllic Italian island of Sicily have also experienced firsthand.
ANTONELLA DI FRANCO, SANTO STEFANO QUISQUINA RESIDENT (through translator): The flames were beating us against the walls. We felt helpless. We tried to
help each other using hoses and whatever we could find. No one was helping us, nobody. But we're alive. That's what matters. The important thing is
that we survived.
MOSQUERA (voice-over): Dozens of wildfires were reported across the island on Wednesday as temperatures were forecast to exceed 40 degrees Celsius.
In Spain, just days after the country's deadliest wildfire so far this century, which government officials say claimed the lives of 13 people,
another blaze is spreading rapidly through the province of Guadalajara.
DAVID PITA, CONDEMIOS DE ARRIBA RESIDENT (through translator): Well, it's very sad, very sad, very sad. It's a real shame. But as long as there are
no casualties, I suppose you could say things are going as well as they can.
MOSQUERA (voice-over): The fire has been burning since July 16th and has so far consumed more than 30,000 hectares, making the Guadalajara fire one
of the worst wildfires ever recorded in the country.
PEDRO SANCHEZ, SPANISH PRIME MINISTER (through translator): More than 100,000 hectares have been burned as a result of the wildlife or wildfires
across Spain. To put that into perspective, this the annual average that Spain experienced over the past decade.
MOSQUERA (voice-over): Authorities fear that threats like this could become more widespread before the end of the summer, as wildfire risk is
expected to remain high across Western Europe in the coming days.
Pau Mosquera, CNN, Madrid.
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SOARES: The State of Texas after making landfall in Louisiana, but its biggest impact is along the U.S. east coast, where it's fueling a serious
flood threat. I want to go to our meteorologist Allison Chinchar in the CNN Weather Center. So, lay it out for us, Allison. How bad is it looking?
ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Right. So, the storm has now finally moved inland, but we still have some showers and thunderstorms sliding
continuously into areas of Texas, Louisiana, and also into Mississippi. Those sustained winds still around 45 miles per hour. So, you're still
going to get a little bit of some gusty winds along with the heavy rain showers at times as that storm continues to make its way off to the west.
So, here's a look through the rest of the day. Again, you'll see the rest of that moisture really starts to push westward very quickly so that by the
time we get to the overnight hours tonight, we're really not left with much in the way of moisture at that point. So, most of these areas looking at
maybe an extra one to two inches on top of what they've already had.
But the other thing is that moisture from Bertha is also being pulled into this stationary front that's right here, adding more moisture to what was
already a very soggy few days for portions of the southeast, especially along the Carolinas.
Look at all of this heavy rain for places like Raleigh, Charlotte, over along into the coastal regions as well. You've got the flood watches in
effect, not just for the remainder of the day today, but likely these will continue into Friday because that stationary front is just that. It's
stationary. It's not going anywhere. So, a lot of these areas are going to see training storms, meaning they're impacting the same areas over and over
again. That means the rain is going to accumulate and in many cases cause ponding on the roadways, maybe even start to make their way across roads
and highways.
One thing to note, this the excessive rainfall risk. You have a wide swath here of that slight, that level two. That includes places like Atlanta,
Charlotte, Raleigh, even Chattanooga.
[14:55:00]
When we push it forward into Friday, you'll notice many of the same areas are also going to see that moisture.
So, here's a look. That first wave comes out, the second wave begins to move in Friday, and we even have another wave that will come in on
Saturday. So, this going to be day after day of a lot of these states dealing with the rain. That's why flooding is going to be such a big
concern for these regions.
Now, the heaviest rain is certainly going to be right here along the coast of both North and South Carolina. Some of these areas could pick up four to
six inches of rain, albeit the more widespread totals are likely to pick up about two to four inches total over the next several days.
SOARES: Thank you very much, Allison. Appreciate it. Do stay safe there.
And finally, what is being called the first of its kind surgery on a gorilla. Mizani, a 12-year-old western lowland gorilla at the San Diego Zoo
Safari Pack -- Park, pardon me, had an infection that had spread into its skull. You see San Diego surgeons and wildlife veterinarians stepped in to
carry out the world's first reported mastoectomy on a gorilla. Mastoidectomy, I should say, on a gorilla.
They successfully removed the portions of the infected bone behind Mizani's ears. You can see that since humans and gorillas have many anatomical
similarities, the surgeons were able to adapt quickly.
That does it for a very busy hour. Do stay right here. "What We Know" with Max Foster is up next. Have a wonderful evening. I shall see you tomorrow.
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