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The Brief with Jim Sciutto
Ukraine: 17 Killed In Russian Missile Strikes Around Kyiv; Zelenskyy: Attack Shows Crucial Need For Anti-Missile Systems; Iran Casts Doubt On Trump Claim Of Strait Reopening; U.K. Lab: A.I. Models Impersonate, Deceive In Security Tests; Russian "Black Widows" Allegedly Marrying Soldiers For Money; Progressive El-Sayed Wins Michigan Democratic Senate Primary; FIFA Chief Holds Crisis Meeting Amid Calls To Resign; Jordan's League Accuses FIFA Of "Blackmail" Over Infantino Bid; Cape Verde's Vozinha Signs On To Play With Chile's Colo-Colo; Trump Admin. Refunds $100B From Overturned Tariffs; Part of SpaceX Rocket Collides With Moon. Aired 6-7p ET
Aired August 05, 2026 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:00:49]
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Jim Sciutto in Washington, and you're watching
The Brief.
Just ahead this hour, another deadly night in Ukraine. Unable to stop Russian missiles from killing 17 people. I'm going to speak with a
journalist who lived through it from Kyiv. AI models once again lie to their human researchers using fake identities to cheat and deceive. And the
President of FIFA holds a crisis meeting as he tries to stay in power and faces accusations of blackmail.
Yet one more deadly barrage of Russian missiles raining down faster than bullets. None this time were intercepted. We begin in Ukraine, where at
least 17 people were killed in another Russian aerial assault in and around the capital, Kyiv. Officials say Moscow fired more than two dozen ballistic
and anti-ship missiles, with Ukraine's air defenses short of interceptors, unable to halt any of them.
It is a clear sign that Kyiv's stockpile of those interceptors is dangerously low. Ukraine's President said he spoke with the NATO chief in
just the past several hours about the support his country desperately needs.
And that is what Kyiv residents heard repeatedly overnight into Wednesday as those Russian missiles tore through the nighttime sky. The video there
shot by the Deputy Chief Editor of the Kyiv Independent, Oleksiy Sorokin, who joins us now from the Ukrainian capital.
Oleksiy, it's good to have you.
OLEKSIY SOROKIN, DEPUTY CHIEF EDITOR, KYIV INDEPENDENT: Thank you for having me.
SCIUTTO: So, first of all, when I speak to folks in Kyiv these days, my first question is, are you safe and are you expecting another missile
barrage tonight?
SOROKIN: Well, first of all, nobody is safe, unfortunately, in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities. And usually the missile barrages that you just
witnessed from the video come around two, three days in between. So today we hope for a peaceful night and we will be preparing for another missile
attack probably in two days.
SCIUTTO: Can you explain the mood there right now? Because there was a change of mood I sensed in recent weeks because of a change of momentum on
the battlefield. Ukraine had made so much progress stopping Russian advances, but also striking deep inside Russia, particularly against energy
infrastructure. But the last several days and weeks have revealed this vulnerability as those air defenses are short. Are folks losing hope? Are
they panicking?
SOROKIN: I don't think folks are panicking, but obviously the mood is pretty grim, I would say. The problem with ballistic missile attacks,
right, is that there's nowhere you can hide. Ukraine doesn't have Patriot missiles to counter ballistic missiles that Russia launches. And also
because ballistics travel really, really quickly, there is no warning.
So basically what happens is that there's an air raid alert and then in a minute's time, there's a missile that hits the city. So obviously people
are at their edge, right? They're on edge. They know that they can be the next target and there's nothing really that Ukrainians can do about it.
SCIUTTO: As you know, the Ukrainian President, he's been pleading with other countries, including the U.S., to send more interceptors. But I
wonder, because you're aware of the reporting, including a story from CNN yesterday, that the U.S. is now dangerously low on interceptors, including
Patriot missiles. Do you believe -- do Ukrainian officials believe, that the U.S. and Europe actually have the interceptors to give?
[18:05:13]
SOROKIN: I think they understand that the U.S. and especially Europeans don't have the missiles to give to Ukraine. That's why Ukraine is
constantly asking for the license to produce additional missiles, right? We know that if Ukraine receives the license, Ukrainians are not going to be
able to build the missiles tomorrow. It's a long process to build the factories, the production lines, and to produce enough missiles to defend
Ukraine.
But we understand that that's the only way we can achieve some kind of defenses against Russian ballistic missiles. We also, at the Kyiv
Independent, recently published an article talking to Ukrainian officials who told us that they were asking for licenses for actually two years,
since the last months of the Biden administration, because they understood that the new administration will have other priorities.
They sensed that there might be a problem with the new administration, so they asked, starting from November of 2024, that the U.S. would provide
licenses for specifically Patriot air defense missiles, and they received a no. And they are continuing to receive this no from the Trump
administration now, and unfortunately, these noes from both administrations, they cost Ukrainian lives.
SCIUTTO: Yes. I saw your reporting. So this is now two administrations in a row. And based on his recent record, President Trump is, shall we say, a
moving target in terms of his support for Ukraine. Where does that leave Ukraine? And are Ukrainians losing hope that the U.S. will ever come
through, if not with interceptors immediately, for that ability to manufacture their own?
SOROKIN: Well, unfortunately, that leaves Ukraine defenseless. I personally don't understand why the U.S. won't allow Ukraine to produce Patriot
missiles. There's multiple avenues that the U.S. can go. They can have a contract only for the duration of the war, maybe a fixed contract, right?
But unfortunately, because Ukraine doesn't have these capacities, doesn't have this right to produce missiles that defend Ukrainians, every new
attack will cost Ukrainian lives. And unfortunately, I think that Ukrainians right now and people in power in Ukraine understand that it's
going to be really, really hard to persuade this administration to help Ukraine survive.
SCIUTTO: Well, Oleksiy, I'm so sorry that you and fellow residents of Kyiv have to go through this so frequently. So, as I always say to folks like
you, after I speak to you, I wish you safety tonight and in the coming days.
SOROKIN: Thank you very much.
SCIUTTO: Oleksiy Sorokin there from Kyiv.
Well, Ukrainian retail sites were heavily damaged by Russia's latest strikes. Later in the program, we're going to speak to the head of
Ukraine's answer to Ikea epicenter, which was among the targets. That's just about 20 minutes from now.
Another war, of course, we're following closely, the war with Iran. Iran appears to be close to an agreement on a new shipping route through the
Strait of Hormuz. The country's deputy foreign minister says talks with Oman have produced a broad agreement, but that Iran would not immediately
or automatically reopen the waterway. He says Tehran is currently not negotiating directly with the U.S. over the Strait.
Here's what President Trump had to say about Iran just a short time ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: I'd rather make a deal because I don't want to kill people. I do not want to kill people. But at some point, we're
going to -- we had -- we were set for the biggest attack of any attack. And we've hit him very hard for the last few months. But we were all set for
the biggest attack since World War II.
And they called me and they said, please don't do it. Let's talk. And then they don't. They said, we never said that. You know what? The fake news
knows they did say that. But we are talking. Let's see what happens. But they respect us. They respect us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: Joining me now is Aaron David Miller, former U.S. State Department negotiator for the Middle East, now senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment
for International Peace.
So, Aaron, let me begin with the President's word there -- words there, something he has claimed multiple times that Iran respects us. Do you see
evidence that Iran respects the U.S. position now, respects U.S. military power?
AARON DAVID MILLER, FMR. U.S. STATE DEPT. MIDDLE EAST NEGOTIATOR: I don't. I think they'd like to avoid a continuation of the war and an escalation
against their energy infrastructure. No doubt about that. Respect? No.
[18:10:05]
On the contrary, I think the Iranians have concluded that since they weaponized geography, every time Trump delays, they have the approach in
midterms. The Iranians believe that is a sacred date for the President. I'm not entirely sure.
And look, Jim, in the end, Trump has avoided two options, massive escalation on one hand or political extrication, which would cede to the
Iranians what they have never had, which is formalized control and leverage over one of the planet's most important choke points. So he did.
He has not wanted to embrace either option. But I think now it may well be that he has no alternative unless he wants to continue the war. The
Iranians are perfectly happy, I suspect, to do that. And they will not give up what they now believe is their new nuclear weapon, which is leveraging
control over the Straits.
SCIUTTO: As you know, the administration says the Strait of Hormuz will effectively be open. Iran, its position appears that that's going to be
some sort of temporary arrangement. Do the facts belie the President's claims? And to your point, is the U.S. effectively pushed into a position
now where it has to accept Ukrainian -- Iranian control or at least influence over the Strait?
MILLER: I think if the President wants a way out. I mean, nobody should be happy about. There's no Hollywood ending here. A war of choice is now
evolved into what I would call a forced piece of necessity in which the President is going to have to concede something that would have been
unthinkable and unimaginable.
SCIUTTO: I mean, that sounds like a loss in this war strategically.
MILLER: I mean, I don't think there's any doubt about that. The only answer, Jim, to the Straits now, you know, whatever cliche you want to use,
horses left the barn. The -- I don't know what else. The Straits are never again going to be free and unfettered.
The only strategic answer to this is alternative infrastructure that would bypass the Straits. The MRIs and Saudis have already, they have such
infrastructure. There are at least seven pipelines planned. It's going to take years to construct, but that is the only answer as long as this regime
remains in power.
They've weaponized geography and they have capitalized on American and Gulf vulnerability. And we now are where we are. And no matter how much the
President wants to spin this, I've worked and voted for Republicans and Democrats. You can consider this a partisan comment if you'd like.
No matter how much he tries to spin this, it constitutes at a minimum a tactical defeat. And I would go beyond that. I think it's a strategic
defeat for the United States.
SCIUTTO: Before we go, as you know, CNN reported that the U.S. has now used nearly 80 percent of its THAAD high altitude interceptors, roughly half its
Patriot interceptors. Does that expose a weakness in U.S. military options going forward?
MILLER: I don't think there's any doubt. And every time we launch a TLAM, a Tomahawk missile or a THAAD or an interceptor, Vladimir Putin knows it's
one less that the Europeans can buy to defend Ukraine. And President Xi also is looking at this and thinking, hmm, one less that can be used
against me.
Look, in five years, Putin has not broken Ukraine. In six months, Donald Trump has not broken Iran. Xi must be thinking, hopefully, when it comes to
what his views of Taiwan are, how a large power has been unable to subdue a smaller one.
SCIUTTO: No question. Victory in asymmetric warfare.
Aaron David Miller, thanks so much.
MILLER: Thank you, Jim.
SCIUTTO: Still ahead, A.I. once again behaving badly. U.K. researchers disclosing a serious news security breach. Why they are urging quick
action, next.
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[18:16:52]
SCIUTTO: Welcome back. In today's Business Breakout, a mixed day for U.S. stocks. The Dow closed at a record high yet again, but the S&P and NASDAQ
pulled back. Among the tech losers, SpaceX shares fell, as you see there, more than 13 percent on concerns. Once again, it's spending too much on
A.I. The company says CapEx spending exceeded $18 billion in the second quarter, well above expectations.
NVIDIA is one of the firms that will benefit from all that SpaceX spending. Its shares rose more than 3 percent after Elon Musk said SpaceX will
exclusively buy and use NVIDIA chips.
Well, the billions of dollars companies are spending on A.I. cannot seem to get A.I. models to behave any better. An anthropic model used fake
identities to try to trick people during testing by a British government lab. It also attempted to plant malicious code. The tests show an OpenAI
model also took, quote unquote, "autonomous unsanctioned action," end quote, targeting real people and organizations.
The new disclosures coming from the U.K.'s A.I. Security Institute. All this after multiple incidents where other A.I. models escaped from testing
environments to attack other companies' computer systems.
Hadas Gold joins me now. Hadas, more plot lines for future or current sci- fi scripts. But, I mean, this is deeply problematic, is it not? Because repeatedly, they're exhibiting these models, exhibiting behaviors that go
beyond what their designers want them and design them to do.
HADAS GOLD, CNN A.I. CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's A.I. acting autonomously to complete the goal and the task that's set in front of it. But in ways that
the people asking it to complete the goals didn't necessarily think or want them to do. This case is notable because while in the previous cases it's
A.I. agents who are going through hacking and very much just kind of behind the scenes and working through code, this was the first time, according to
these researchers, that an A.I. agent tried to manipulate a real person into doing something bad on their behalf.
So this is the U.K. government's A.I. security agency that was reviewing advanced models from OpenAI and Anthropic. And over 122 evaluations, they
found 19 incidents where these A.I.s were taking autonomous, unsanctioned actions. Almost all of them were credited to Anthropic's mythos.
The most notable of these was a case where the A.I. wanted to insert malicious code into GitHub. GitHub is an open source repository for
software code. It's like the Wikipedia of software code. And there's a human editor who has to approve anything before it gets posted there.
This agent tried to use a fake identity to convince the human reviewer to publish this malicious code on GitHub. When they were unsuccessful in
convincing the human reviewer, they went back, tried to kind of erase, change their history, to try and even considered using a new fake identity.
As part of the same effort, they sent deceptive e-mails targeting specific people, trying to get them to run and post this malicious code change on
GitHub.
[18:20:01]
According to the U.K. A.I. Security Institute, this is the first time they have ever seen deception of this severity that targeted a real person,
unprompted, and happened in the real world. Now, to be clear, the models that they were testing, their internal normal security guardrails were
either removed or lowered significantly. These are not the types of models that you would get off the shelf or you'd have ever available to the
public.
But it is notable just to see what these agents did on their own, what they're coming up with on their own, and their capabilities. Now, they were
unsuccessful. There was no real world harm in this scenario. But you can imagine what could have happened had that human reviewer accepted that
malicious code and posted it on something like GitHub.
SCIUTTO: Well, an outside observer might say that they act like human beings. But Hadas, before we go, the new findings come a day after A.I.
firms met at the White House to discuss government testing of new models. Do we know where those negotiations and discussions stand?
GOLD: Yes. So this framework was first established in this June executive order that President Donald Trump signed. And the idea is that it will give
the government a chance to review these advanced models before they are released publicly. It gives them a chance to, you know, express any
concerns about their security, give a chance to help shore up government defenses.
What we learned, according to my sources from this meeting that was just giving the details of what this framework actually is, is that it's only
going to apply to closed models. These are the models from that you know, from OpenAI, from Anthropic. Open models, most of which the popular ones
are coming out of China, are not included. Open models are the ones where you can adjust the parameters to your own liking. They live on your own
system.
Now, that could change over time. There's also still a lot of confusion, honestly, amongst the A.I. companies about what are the benchmarks that the
government is going to be used to decide. What is an advanced model that needs to be reviewed in all of this?
But the idea I've heard from another source is that this is supposed to be a living document, a living framework, because this industry, this
technology is moving so quickly that the White House doesn't get its -- want to get itself locked into sort of regulations and wants to have
flexibility to be able to say, hey, we need to review this or we don't need to review that.
So this is changing rapidly because the technology is changing rapidly, but still a little bit of confusion on exactly how this is going to work and
who's going to lead it.
SCIUTTO: Hadas Gold, thanks so much for coming.
We're checking some of today's other business headlines. Call it a summertime slowdown in the U.S. jobs market. Payroll from firm ADP says
that private employers added just 44,000 jobs last month. That is below expectations, well down from the 95,000 jobs added in June.
The U.S. government has now refunded more than half of the tariffs it owes to Corporate America. Court records show the Trump administration has paid
back some $100 billion since the Supreme Court struck down its so-called Liberation Day duties. Some $66 billion are still on the way.
Unfortunately, no refunds going directly to consumers like you and me.
Entertainment giant Disney reported stronger-than-expected profits Wednesday, fueled in part by the popularity of its "Toy Story 5" film.
Disney says the movie helped drive results across a number of its divisions, including theme parks.
Disney also announced a new deal with TikTok. Under the agreement, people will be able to create videos based on Disney characters and post them on
TikTok and Disney Plus.
Coming up next, striking the very heart of Ukrainian manufacturing. In devastating news strikes, Russia pummels prominent businesses in Ukraine.
We're going to speak to one of the companies attacked.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:26:49]
SCIUTTO: Welcome back to The Brief. I'm Jim Sciutto. And here are the international headlines we're watching today.
Russia launched a devastating onslaught of ballistic missiles at Kyiv overnight into Wednesday. A Ukrainian official says those strikes killed at
least 17 people. Ukraine's air defenses were unable to intercept any of the missiles. The defense stockpile is dangerously low and Ukraine is pleading
with Western allies for help.
SCIUTTO: Iran and Oman are reportedly close to finalizing at least the framework of a deal on a safe route for ships through the Strait of Hormuz
by Friday. An Iranian official says the regime's senior leadership will have to sign off on any potential agreement. President Donald Trump says he
believes a deal to reopen the Strait could be announced as soon as today. Tehran rejected that claim.
The Vatican has announced that Pope Leo will visit Peru in November. He served in Peru as a missionary and bishop for some two decades and
maintains close ties to the country. He's also scheduled to stop in Uruguay and Argentina during his first trip to Latin America as Pope.
More now on the ongoing Russian aerial assault on Kyiv. The strikes, in addition to killing civilians, damaged prominent businesses including what
are the Ukrainian equivalents of Amazon and Ikea that appears to be in retaliation for Ukraine targeting Russia's e-commerce giant Wildberries.
The Ukrainian home improvement company Epicentr said one of its employees was killed and decades of work up in flames overnight.
Viktoriia Savitska is the Head of International Relations at Epicentr and she joins me now. Victoriia, good to have you. Thanks so much.
VIKTORIIA SAVITSKA, HEAD OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, EPICENTR: Jim, thank you for inviting me and thank you for the opportunity to share our story.
SCIUTTO: Well, this is, of course, primarily a human loss for you and your company given that one of your employees was killed. But it's also a
professional loss, as you say, that this is a company built up over years and that was destroyed in one night.
SAVITSKA: Yes, absolutely. Last night, we faced one -- the most devastating attack on our business. Our ceramic manufacturing was destroyed. It's years
of work. It's more than 500 employees, more than 500 families. Many, many lives depend on that.
And everything was burned in a second. But the most important that we lost our colleague, a young man who had a whole life ahead of him. And this will
never be back. We lost our logistic hub. Our second logistic hub was severely attacked. We lost two warehouses.
And a lot of businesses last night had devastating losses. And, you know, in yesterday's attack, zero military objects were harmed. Only business,
only civilians and only Ukrainian families that will bear those losses.
SCIUTTO: You have said that it would take perhaps two years to rebuild the business. Do you believe that will mean that yours and other businesses
will have to leave Ukraine for a time?
[18:30:10]
SAVITSKA: You know, we've been living in this more than 4 years. During the war, since 2022, we lost 10 facilities. 13 of our shopping centers were
damaged. 10 we lost completely. Some of them we rebuilt already, because we believe in our future, we believe in the future of Ukraine.
And, you know, Epicentr is a small family of almost 30,000 people. So we can't really pack our suitcases and leave. We are there to rebuild, we are
there to fight. We fight for our employees, we fight for our communities, because our business is directly interlinked with Ukrainian communities.
So we can -- we have no moral right just to leave, and where would we go? That's our country.
SCIUTTO: I'm not going to create false equivalencies because, of course, Russia started this war with its full-scale invasion and has been attacking
civilian targets for years now, quite deliberately. But are you concerned at all that by striking companies like Wildberries inside Russia, Ukraine
striking them, that that created an opportunity or a motivation for Russia to strike businesses like yours?
SAVITSKA: Our business has been struck from the first days of the war. Actually, in the first -- literally in the first days, we lost our first
location that was rebuilt in a year after. One of our locations was targeted two years ago on a Saturday afternoon, where people actually go
shopping.
I mean, I think it's very common in -- all around the world that people are going grocery and, like, homeware shopping on Saturday afternoon, and our
location was targeted. There was no Wildberries at that time, but our business was always attacked since the beginning of the war. So I don't say
that it's really interconnected, because we are suffering from the day one.
SCIUTTO: Before we go, as you know, the Ukrainian President has been asking for more help, and it's falling on deaf ears here in the U.S., in Europe,
in part because they say they just don't have the help to give. Are you running out of hope that Ukraine will get help to protect itself from these
Russian missile attacks, air interceptor missiles, anything, right, that can help protect lives and businesses like your own?
SAVITSKA: We believe that Ukraine is a wall between Russia and Europe, so we are holding on our shoulders quite a lot. And because we are still
holding this on our shoulders, it doesn't spread further. So we believe that international community, global community will reunite, and all
together we can stop this.
Because, as I said, with all those attacks, it's not just walls that are lost, it's human lives, it's generations, it's families. You know, we have
4,000 employees that are in the Ukrainian army now, and since the beginning of the war we lost 246 employees. And those losses, that's -- they are not
-- it's impossible to count. So we believe that maybe -- and we call for international community to unite forces, to join forces, and stop Russia.
SCIUTTO: Well, Viktoriia Savitska, I wish you and I wish your fellow employees safety in the coming days and weeks.
SAVITSKA: Thank you very much, Jim.
SCIUTTO: Well, in Russia, controversy is growing around so-called black widow scams, women allegedly entering sham marriages with soldiers to claim
death benefits if they're killed. Matthew Chance has the sobering story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A mass wedding of Russian soldiers before they're packed off to the front lines.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translation): I want to shake your hand and thank you for not running away, for not being scared.
CHANCE (voice-over): But not all marriages offer love. Russian military wives get thousands of dollars compensation if their husbands are killed in
action. And officials say ruthless scammers dubbed black widows are now tricking vulnerable recruits into wedlock.
The father of Maria from St. Petersburg died after being shot in Ukraine last year. She told me she only found out her dad had joined the army after
he was killed and only then that he had a new wife.
CHANCE: How did you feel when you found out that your dad had got married just days before he went off to war?
[18:35:07]
MARIA, DAUGHTER OF RUSSIAN SOLDIER (through translation): It felt unreal. When I was being issued the death certificate, they asked if he was
married. I said no, but they told me he was. I never even managed to contact the woman. I simply didn't know what to say to her because I
suspected it was a scam.
CHANCE: It's just one suspected case in a growing number scandalizing Russia. With the war in Ukraine now in its fifth year and casualty rates at
catastrophic highs, it's hard to imagine there are people out there marrying vulnerable men and encouraging them to join the military just so
they might financially benefit if they're killed on the front lines. No wonder there's outrage across Russia at the spread of these black widow
scams.
CHANCE (voice-over): There are numerous allegations of recruits honey- trapped before dying on the front lines, even marrying on their deathbeds in hospital. This woman, who married a soldier 10 days after meeting him,
then posted images of herself with other men, was branded a black widow in the Russian media and denied compensation when her husband was killed
before their divorce went through. She denied any wrongdoing, saying the allegations had blackened her name.
But there's growing public anger at how cynical some Russians have become about the war, which the Kremlin calls its special military operation.
"If I want an apartment, where am I supposed to get the money?" the host of this podcast asks. "It's simple," the guest, who's a real estate agent,
responds. "Find a man serving in the special military operation and when he's killed, you get RUB 8 million," she laughs.
The podcasters were prosecuted and forced to apologize, a rare intervention by the Russian courts.
Back in St. Petersburg, Maria takes us to the block where her dad's old apartment has now been sold off, convinced he was also scammed out of his
home.
CHANCE: Do you know who the new owner is?
How long -- how many years did your dad live here?
MARIA: Five years.
CHANCE: Five years. This is it? It's open.
CHANCE (voice-over): Behind the broken door, the new occupants insist it was a legitimate sale and that they never even met the seller. It means the
money and the widow, just like Maria's dad, are now long gone.
Matthew Chance, CNN, in St. Petersburg.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCIUTTO: Another cost of the war.
Coming up on The Brief, a major victory for the progressive wing of the Democratic Party. Coming up, key takeaways from Michigan's Senate primary.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:40:38]
SCIUTTO: Progressive Abdul El-Sayed has narrowly won the Democratic nomination for Senate in the battleground state of Michigan. The 41-year-
old, former public health official, defeated Congresswoman Haley Stevens, who was backed by the party establishment, as well as the nation's most
influential pro-Israel group, AIPAC.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ABDUL EL-SAYED, U.S. DEMOCRATIC SENATE NOMINEE: You heard about the historic turnout. Sometimes, you know, intra-family squabbles are the
biggest ones. But we all know that when we walk out the house, we stand united. And sometimes we got to have it out about the conversation about
who we are and who we want to be.
And I think I'll tell you that the things that unite us are so much bigger than the things that divide us. If anything, when you've got 500,000 more
voters who came out to be a part of a process to pick a nominee, that means that their voices have been heard. And we're going to build a movement that
reaches out to everybody.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: El-Sayed will now face former Republican Congressman Mike Rogers in November's midterm election. Shortly before polls closed on Tuesday,
Senator Bernie Sanders spoke about the choice facing Democrats in Michigan and across the country. Sanders endorsed El-Sayed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BERNIE SANDERS, U.S. SENATE INDEPENDENT: I think what we are seeing, no matter what happens tonight in Michigan, and I hope very much that El-Sayed
wins, is you're seeing a transformation of the Democratic Party. And what the debate within the Democratic Party is about, it's not only about
ideology.
I want to see billionaires start paying their fair share of taxes. I believe, as progressives do, that health care is a human right. We need
Medicare for All. I believe that we should cease all funding to Netanyahu's extremist government, et cetera.
But it's not only ideology that we disagree with the Democratic leadership about. It's how you do politics. It is no great secret that what the
Democratic leadership does, and the Republicans do it even more, is you go to wealthy billionaires, you say, give us campaign contributions.
You start Super PACs. You hire all these consultants. You put 30-second ads on. You do opposition research. That's your campaign. We do it differently.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: Joining me now is Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. Larry, always good to have you.
LARRY SABATO, CENTER FOR POLITICS DIRECTOR, UNIV. OF VIRGINIA: Thank you, Jim.
SCIUTTO: So, the hot take on this election, as you know, among Republicans certainly, but also many Democrats, is that Sayed -- El-Sayed is too
progressive, too far left, therefore less likely to win this seat, and therefore Democrats less likely to win control of the Senate. Do you agree
with that?
SABATO: Yes, partly, but you have to consider the year. You know, if this were 2024, I'd say they just kissed away a Senate seat in Michigan. This is
not necessarily true, because this is a Democratic year. Donald Trump is so unpopular, and his policies are as well.
They produce the cost increases that people are so upset about, and the war in Iran, which is very unpopular. So, you know, you can't apply the same
rules to every election year, and we'll have to see how he does. He's very talented. This guy is a natural.
Now, he ran for governor once and lost badly, so that doesn't mean you're going to win. But he's got the basic skills. If he can bring people
together -- and that's where he may be lacking -- if he can bring them together, bring the half of the party that didn't vote for him back to vote
for him, rather than staying home, I don't think they would vote Republican, he might win.
SCIUTTO: The race has also become something of a referendum on Israel. He has been portrayed as a critic of Israel. Some go further. They accuse him
of being an anti-Semite. As you know, AIPAC spent many millions of dollars on this race, and their candidate lost. But, as you also know, support for
Israel is waning, not just among Democrats, but among many Republicans.
And I wonder, do you see that as a lasting phenomenon in this country? And does that change the political dynamics of races like this?
SABATO: Well, it might change -- to be blunt about it, after the current prime minister, Netanyahu, moves along, or the public moves him along -- it
might change and revert back somewhat.
[18:45:04]
But I think it's going to be a long time before Israel achieves what it has, which was incredible. Throughout all my life, both parties supported
Israel. Both parties cheered Israel on. U.S. support for Israel, war material, as well as money, was as solid as you can get. And now, within
the Democratic Party, it's virtually disappeared. And as you said, there's also a big slice now of Republicans who blame Netanyahu and Israel for the
war in Iran and don't want anything more to do with them.
SCIUTTO: Before we go, this was another big polling miss, because, as you know, leading into this, that the margins for most polling puts El-Sayed as
an easy winner. It was not that easy. It was really tight in the end. Should we be concerned yet again about polling going into these midterm
elections?
SABATO: Oh, absolutely. I just waited for this. I knew it was going to happen sometime in the primary season. But you've got to remember to look
who's paying for the poll. And in several cases, actually four, you had people who pretty strongly supported El-Sayed.
And they wanted the result of this poll to be positive and to encourage him as a campaigner. But, look, those results were processed and produced.
There's no way for a legitimate poll to show a candidate up 15, 20 points and just a few days later have it be a tie. So it's a warning to all of us
to insist on knowing who's paying for the poll.
SCIUTTO: All right. We'll do our best to do that.
Larry Sabato, thanks so much.
SABATO: Thank you, Jim.
SCIUTTO: FIFA President Gianni Infantino is facing growing calls to resign. A football legend now says Infantino must go to save the sport. FIFA is
holding a crisis meeting.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCIUTTO: FIFA President Gianni Infantino is fighting now to stay in power after ultimately scrapping his hugely controversial plan to sell private
stakes in commercial and tournament operations, including the World Cup. He summoned top FIFA officials for an emergency meeting in Morocco. That is
where he will be seeking a fourth term in March.
FIFA leaders said just a short time ago that Infantino has their full support. Many on the outside, however, are furious in an op-ed published in
the Daily Mail and obtained by CNN. Portuguese legend Luis Figo called Infantino's conduct, quote, "the lowest, most deceitful, and cravingly
self-interested behavior I have ever witnessed." Adding, "He should go. Now."
CNN's Don Riddell joins me now. And listen, as you know, Luis Figo is not alone because you have several local or national football associations who
have called for him to go. Does it look like he's done, in your view, or can he pull it out?
[18:50:06]
DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: Well, I think he'll be very pleased with how the meeting in Morocco went today, Jim. He has the support of the FIFA
board, in particular the Secretary General Mattias Grafstrom. And so they are presenting this, or Infantino is presenting this, as a win, despite
this growing chorus of calls for him to step down. It sounds like he doesn't plan on going anywhere, and he will now continue through until this
election in March.
I mean, the last couple of weeks have just been quite extraordinary. Remember, going into the World Cup tournament, it was widely assumed that
he would stroll this election in seven months' time, giving him a fourth term as FIFA president.
But everything just turned on its head with that proposal, which was quickly scuppered when he realized just how much opposition there was to
it. And a statement, or a part of the statement from FIFA, certainly acknowledges that the whole thing was handled rather badly.
This is an excerpt. "It was agreed that it was not the intention for the FIFA Council and FIFA Member Associations to feel excluded from the process
and that the process should have been handled differently. It was further acknowledged that errors were also made after the proposal was leaked to
the media."
So an acknowledgement of sorts that this was not the way it should have gone. But when you remember what Figo said, which you've acknowledged, and
what many others feel within the game, I'm not sure they're going to be thrilled with this outcome of this meeting.
I mean, Figo didn't pull any punches at all in that op-ed. He referred to Infantino as a relic of the game. And he said, "I could write 10,000 words
about Gianni Infantino, but only three of the solution -- Infantino must go."
SCIUTTO: There are some stunning claims coming from the head of Jordan's Football Association. What are you learning?
RIDDELL: Yes, this is quite remarkable. I mean, we now seem to be in a position where every passing day brings more and more accusations,
allegations, revelations, which cast Infantino in an increasingly dark light. And this one was this quite eye-popping. So Prince Ali bin Al
Hussein is a former FIFA vice president. He's head of the Jordanian Football Association. They just made their World Cup debut this summer.
And he's now come out and alleged that basically, in his words, FIFA were blackmailing him because Jordan made it to the final of the FIFA Arab Cup
last December. And by making it to the final, there should have been over $4 million in prize money. And he's saying that that money still hasn't
been paid.
And he was told that he needed to throw his support behind Infantino for the next election. Kind of or else the money still hasn't come. And he said
in a statement, we were never going to support him anyway. We certainly won't be doing so now.
SCIUTTO: One almost wants to quote from Casablanca, right? There's gambling in this establishment.
Don Riddell, thanks so much.
RIDDELL: Right.
SCIUTTO: Well, after a thrilling World Cup run, Cape Verde's team captain and veteran goalkeeper is taking his talents to Chile. The 40-year-old
Vozinha has signed a six-month contract with Santiago football club Colo- Colo. It's quite a move.
CNN's Christopher Ulloa has the latest.
CHRISTOPHER ULLOA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Vozinha frenzy continues. The 40- year-old goalkeeper from Cape Verde, Josimar Jose Evora Dias, has finally been presented by the Colo-Colo team as his newest member. After finishing
his training session with his teammates at the Estadio Monumental, Josimar Jose Evora Dias said that his decision to join Colo-Colo was never in
doubt, despite several days of uncertainty caused by the delay in his arrival.
The global football sensation also expressed his happiness with the moment and also said that he will bring his mother and his friends to Chile once
he's settled and has a home ready for them. What else did Vozinha have to say? Let's take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOZINHA, GOALKEEPER, COLO-COLO (through translation): In soccer, I know there are many people behind you and the fans always want the best. I think
all players also work day by day to be well prepared. Playing in the World Cup was great pressure for me. I played against the best national teams in
the world and I'm focused on working and helping the club achieve its goals.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ULLOA: A final welcome event is going to take place at the Estadio Monumental this Wednesday, where thousands of fans are expected to gather
around to give Vozinha a final welcome to Colo-Colo.
For CNN, Christopher Ulloa, Santiago, Chile.
SCIUTTO: As we reported earlier, the U.S. government has now refunded more than half of the tariffs it owes to Corporate America. Court records show
the Trump administration paid back some $100 billion since its so-called Liberation Day duties were struck down by the Supreme Court.
[18:55:01]
Apple says it received $2.2 billion in the past quarter. Amazon got back $600 million. Nike a cool $300 million. Some $66 billion more still on the
way. Not to consumers, though.
Well, a chunk of SpaceX rocket crashed into the moon today. A European observatory telescope in Chile detected that impact. The upper stage of the
Falcon 9 rocket had been floating in Space since it launched in January last year. Often, space junk burns up in the Earth's atmosphere. But SpaceX
says solar activity and gravity propelled the rocket piece all the way to the moon.
It's quite a journey.
Thanks so much for joining us. I'm Jim Sciutto in Washington. You've been watching The Brief. Please do stay with CNN.
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