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What We Know with Max Foster

War Escalates As Houthis Target Ships In Red Sea; Trump Says Iran "Not Ready" To Make A Deal; Global Oil Prices Top $100 A Barrel As Conflict Widens; White House: U.S.-Saudi Nuclear Deal Is "Still Being Worked Out"; Congressman Asks DOJ To Consider Charges Against Jack Smith. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired July 23, 2026 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:33]

MAX FOSTER, CNN HOST: Oil prices surge as more ships come under attack.

This is WHAT WE KNOW.

First, the Strait of Hormuz. Now, the Red Sea, a second crucial Middle East waterway for oil tankers, is now engulfed in the escalating war with Iran.

Iranian-backed Houthis say they hit two Saudi oil tankers today, carrying out a threat to impose a blockade against Saudi shipping. Satellite imagery

from NASA appears to show one of the ships on fire.

U.S. President Donald Trump says he'll hold Iran responsible if attacks continue, warning of major military punishment. The attack sent oil prices

surging past $100 a barrel for the first time since May.

Let's bring in Kevin Liptak at the White House.

Kevin, this is a huge concern, because there are two main routes for oil to get out of the Middle East, and they are now both under threat.

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Right. It's another choke point in the global oil trade and it is another front in the Iran war

for a president who at this point has not articulated a particularly clear end game about how he sees this all going. And so, for him. I think this is

just an added headache to what has become a fairly bleak picture in the Middle East.

And his message this morning conveyed a certain level of disappointment at this Iran-backed rebel group, the Houthis, that are in Yemen, saying that,

until now, they had, quote, "acted very professionally and smart by not getting involved in the Iran war" and saying that he was, quote, "very

disappointed in them for now", both firing on those tankers in the Red Sea, but also enacting this blockade of Saudi shipping in this very critical

waterway.

And so, whether or not the president now becomes dragged in to an entirely different part of the Middle East remains to be seen, but he is suggesting

that that is an outcome that he sees very likely and very possible if the Houthis continue down this route.

Now, we were just hearing from the president, he was at an unrelated event over at the EPA, and he did on the war in Iran briefly, saying that, in his

view, it was going, quote, "very, very well," and that the Saudis did want to come back to the negotiating table, but that, quote, "they were not

ready yet in terms of what concessions they were prepared to offer".

And, you know, when you talk to regional diplomats, they are fairly pessimistic that, at this point, the negotiations are going to resume. You

know, they have been trying to get this de-escalation plan back on the table. They've proposed a 10-day ceasefire that would lower the

temperatures, bring the two sides back to some sort of discussions. But they say that the prospects for that, at least for now, appear very, very

bleak. And that does leave the question of where this is all heading.

You know, when you talk to officials here at the White House, there are some concerns that this strategy of night-by-night strikes on Iran. We just

had the Twelfth Night Wednesday into Thursday, that that does not appear to be working, that the Iranians have so far not moved off of any of their

negotiating positions. And that is leading, I think, to some very difficult discussions in the White House about what exactly comes next.

Now, in public, the president is previewing a major escalation. He's talked about going after Pickaxe Mountain, the highly fortified nuclear site

that's buried under 400 feet of solid rock. He's talked about going after roads and bridges in Iran, some of that nuclear or that civilian, rather,

infrastructure.

But so far, he has not executed on any of those threats. And I think there is some concern that we're just sort of locked in an impasse. And it is a

deadly impasse, given what the Iranians have shown they are still capable of in terms of firing on American troops that are arrayed across the Middle

East.

And so President still at a decision point here, but at least when it comes to the Houthis in this additional front of the war, ramping up the threats

as well.

FOSTER: Kevin at the White House, thank you so much for that.

We're going to check on the oil prices right now, because Brent crude, which is the global benchmark, is up close to 7 percent in just one day,

$100 a barrel, WTI crude above $90 a barrel now.

Anna, you've been watching this. I mean, it was skirting with $100.

[15:05:01]

Now it's firmly above it, isn't it? It seems to be going up. And this is because there's no good outcome to these two oil routes being disrupted.

ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, we're now looking at essentially a double chokehold in terms of the two straits and investors increasingly

back to pricing in a prolonged oil crisis. The Strait of Hormuz obviously effectively closed at this point. There were 15 crossings yesterday. That's

around a tenth of what we would have seen before the war in Iran. But now more interesting to watch is the Red Sea as well.

Now, the reason the Red Sea is so relevant at this point For Saudi Arabia, there have been security issues around this passage and with the Bab al-

Mandeb Strait for many years, with Houthi militants, you know, increasingly a sort of a risk around the area. We were talking years ago about ships

taking the very long way around, for instance, with cargo, the Cape of Good Hope, having to make a very long transit, pushing up inflation, et cetera.

The reason this renewed risk is so devastating now in terms of oil prices is because Saudi Arabia has been relying on this other route through the

Red Sea to export the oil they couldn't get out the Strait of Hormuz. They have been piping around 70 percent of their crude oil exports across the

entire country to reach the Red Sea so they could export it from that route.

Now, with two vessels attacked, the question is how many ships will now be able to make that transit? Are we going to be looking at another effective

closure? Prior to this, there were still 43 crossings, but we haven't got the data for today in terms of how many made that. But investors are very

concerned at this point that this could be taking another six, seven percent of global oil supplies just off the market, and for how long? The

rhetoric in terms of the politics of all of this isn't improving at all.

Interesting to know also, we are seeing a bit of a global bond sell-off today. Investors increasingly worrying about what this means for inflation,

what this means for interest rates, and that will just increase the borrowing for governments across the world -- Max.

FOSTER: Yeah, Anna, thank you.

President Trump putting new conditions on what previously was believed to be a signed and sealed civilian nuclear deal between the U.S. and Saudi

Arabia. The president now says the agreement is contingent on Riyadh joining the Abraham Accords, which would normalize its diplomatic ties with

Israel. That demand is being applauded by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

President Trump also says there will be no enrichment of material, and the deal pertains only to non-military use.

Earlier, the White House spokesperson was asked why Saudi Arabia was offered a civilian nuclear deal by the US, but Iran wasn't.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: This agreement is still being worked out. It will eventually, hopefully, be finalized with the

condition that the president spoke about this morning. But this agreement in particular, as it's been discussed thus far, does give priority access

for American companies in the Saudi nuclear energy program, which will ultimately benefit American industry workers and supply chains. So, the

deal that has been discussed thus far and will continue to be discussed absolutely puts America first, and that's obviously very important to this

president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Nic Robertson joins us now from Jerusalem.

Nic, I just wanted to ask you about this deal with Saudi Arabia, because it seems to have changed after it was signed, which is interesting. But it's a

very difficult situation, this, isn't it? For Saudi Arabia to sign the Abraham Accords, it would want something in return, presumably, and it

wants a two-state solution. of the Palestinian area, and that's something that Israel wouldn't want, presumably. So, it's very complex, and it's

putting Saudi Arabia in a very difficult position, isn't it?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: I think Saudi Arabia has sort of maybe woken up to one sort of a day and goes to bed with an

entirely different view of the world, and one that's a bit more troubling, and that's for a number of reasons. I think just take a broad step back

here. The deal as it was outlined by the White House and had been inked apparently yesterday was a worry for Israel because they felt that it

potentially gave Saudi Arabia and potentially others in the region ultimate -- an incentive and a potential pathway to make their own nuclear weapons

and that they felt was unstable. Where we are today, President Trump has done something which makes it impossible for the Saudis to sign. This falls

much more in line with what the Israeli government and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wanted to see.

So, I think if you sort of look at it sort of geopolitically in that regard -- I'll make an analogy here to the criticisms that Iran has leveled

against the United States while trying to make a deal there, trying to get to the MOU. They said the U.S. kept moving the goalposts. And they felt

that the goalposts were being moved because Israel wanted the goalposts moved to have a more favorable terms of the deal.

[15:10:04]

Here we are again, where it's Saudi Arabia that's looking at a situation here where the goalposts appear to have moved, and the new position of the

goalposts is more favorable, it appears, to Israel and what Israel wants than what Saudi Arabia wanted. Now, that's just one part of the picture.

You've been talking about the Houthis attacking Saudi oil shipping in the Red Sea. Now, President Trump today said, if the Houthis do it again, he

will come out and hit the Houthis and hit Iran. That's a great message for the Saudis, who undoubtedly feel that there is a military signal they want

to send to the Houthis as well.

But if you're in Riyadh, you have had these two conundrums delivered to you today. On the one hand, the president changing his message so it's not in

your side, it appears, and the other one where the president is saying, I am on your side and I'll support you, you know, if things heat up even more

with the Houthis.

So, if you're the crown prince in Riyadh tonight, you are probably wondering, how much can you count on President Trump for that support

against the Houthis? What's it going to look like? How long is it going to last?

I don't think we're going to hear any public criticism coming from the Saudis about this, Max. But it amplifies and I think signals more broadly

the concern across this region about how President Trump is handling this very, very complex interlinking geopolitical jigsaw, where he is the one

coming under maximum pressure at the moment, because the price of oil is skyrocketing. And that's what -- exactly what the Iranians want.

So, he's at the losing end of the equation as well as things stand tonight.

FOSTER: Nic Robertson in Jerusalem, thank you so much.

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 ASEAN

Foreign Ministers meeting in the Philippines. Neither answered reporters' questions, though, about Russia's war on Ukraine or whether Russia was

supporting Iran's attempts to target U.S. troops. The U.S. State Department later said they discussed the US-Russia relationship and the need to end

the war in Ukraine.

Well, Ukraine's former defense minister has rejected a new role offered by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Mykhailo Fedorov was fired earlier this

month. His ousting sparked rare protests, pushing Zelenskyy to offer him a prominent position in the government. But Fedorov has today rejected that

proposal, saying he'll not accept any position other than defense minister.

There's new pressure on the U.S. Justice Department to go after one of President Donald Trump's political enemies, Powerful Congressman Jim Jordan

has written a letter asking the Justice Department to consider criminal charges against attorney Jack Smith. Now, Smith was the special prosecutor

who investigated Donald Trump's conduct after his 2020 election loss. Jordan says he believes Smith misled the House Judiciary Committee when it

asked him about his investigation into text messages sent by Mr. Trump.

Holmes Lybrand is with us in Washington.

Just clarify this for people who haven't followed this whole process and exactly where we are now, what it means for them.

HOLMES LYBRAND, CNN REPORTER: That's right.

So, Republicans are really concerned about two separate subpoenas from Jack Smith during his investigation into efforts to overturn that 2020 election.

Now, there's a bit of confusion, so just to go through those two subpoenas really quickly, one of those was just for the toll records of several

members of Congress. That means that they got phone calls that were made, who they made those phone calls to, and the duration of the calls, but it

doesn't include information about those calls.

Now, what Jim Jordan is really concerned about in this letter is messages that Smith was able to access from lawmakers, but that was through a

separate subpoena. That subpoena was for White House staff communication around, again, the 2020 election and efforts by Trump and others to

overturn that election. Now, those White House staffers were in communication with some members of Congress.

So yes, Smith did get access to those messages through that secondary subpoena. But again, this letter from Jordan asking the DOJ to investigate

-- it's really -- it's using words like he seems to be misleading or left the impression of X, Y, and Z. So, it is not that there is necessarily a

clear instance where Smith is saying one thing that is just blatantly not true, but rather the context of these two subpoenas is crucial in

understanding Republicans' message and effort here.

FOSTER: OK, Holmes, appreciate it. Thank you so much.

Coming up, frustration at the White House over leaks, but they don't just need a plumber. What the Trump administration is doing to stop private

information from getting out.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:18:07]

FOSTER: A Secret Service agent assigned to protect U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance has been placed on leave. The agent is suspected of leaking

information about the vice president's personal travel plans to the media. It's the latest in a series of leaks. that have the White House fuming. In

addition to the story about Vance's travel, several New York Times reporters were recently subpoenaed about a report on the security features

of the new Air Force One.

Just last week, we got word that Donald Trump's personal teleprompter operator was suspected of making wagers on the content of the president's

speeches. So, what we want to know is, how leaky is the Trump White House?

Joining me now, David Sanger, CNN's political and national security analyst.

You've covered many administrations, David. What would you say?

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, I'd say this administration is about average in leakiness. The Trump first term was

actually known for more leaking, in part because there were so many factions and groups that didn't like each other, were trying to out each

other, and so forth. There's, I would say a good deal of that underway now.

But, you know, leaks have many, many different reasons. Sometimes policymakers leak in order to get their ideas out or because they're angry

that they thought their ideas were ignored. Sometimes people leak to show off how much they know. And frequently, things that appear to be leaks

aren't leaks at all. I mean, you know. We can -- we'll see how things work out in the court hearing. There's one underway today on the story that my

colleagues did on Air Force One.

But the fact of the matter is that most of what you needed to learn about the security features on the old Air Force One versus the new one, you

could do by looking at photos of the airplane.

[15:20:00]

FOSTER: Why are journalists facing sanctions when they just received the leak? Shouldn't the leaker be the one sanctioned?

SANGER: Well, the administration usually argues, and they have in the case of "The Washington Post", "The New York Times", and other ones, other

cases, that they're going to the journalists only to go find the leakers. But over the years, there have been a set of rules in some jurisdictions,

court decisions set up. to try to give some protection to journalists on First Amendment grounds, because you don't want to have the government

trying to intimidate reporters, or at least I don't want to see the government intimidating reporters, in an effort to control the narrative.

That's not what the founders had in mind. And, you know, I think sometimes many administrations, not just the Trump administration, have a hard time

remembering that there's a reason the First Amendment is first. It was during the Obama administration we had more leak investigations than all

previous administrations before. The Trump administration looks to be intent on trying to challenge that title.

FOSTER: There are unnecessary leaks, I guess, ones that don't really matter, but there are also, you know, public service leaks, right? If

there's someone within the administration who feels the public should know something, you know, they've weighed it up, they're not going to gain

politically from it, but this is something they're concerned about. That's surely something the system should uphold if there's some sort of

corruption within government and, you know, better described as whistleblowing.

SANGER: Sure. There are some clear cases. Whistleblowing is one, I mean, essentially issues of fraud, malfeasance, and so forth. And that's why

Congress passed Freedom of Information Act requirements that enable reporters to obtain documents and so forth.

What you have seen in this administration, and to some degree it worries me as much or more as the leak investigations, is a movement to go create a

new category of unclassified but sensitive information and then punish people for leaking those. In other words, for talking about unclassified

data.

And we're seeing movements all through the administration, most recently in the Navy, to try to clamp down on even the public information that's out

there. You have seen it as the administration has tried to stop American satellite companies from providing imagery of the Middle East. because of

their fear, in part, they say, of tipping off the Iranians.

But what it appears to us they're really doing is trying to hide the degree of strikes on American bases.

FOSTER: Okay. David Sanger, thank you so much for bringing us that, and all of your experience and context on this current administration, that

issue.

Thank you for joining us.

SANGER: Thank you.

FOSTER: Protests have broken out in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, after a deadly police shooting. It happened on Wednesday in the state capitol,

Madison. This video was taken by a bystander and shows the part or shows part of the confrontation there.

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 exactly happened.

Still to come, oil prices surging as the war with Iran escalates, spreading to a second critical waterway in the Middle East.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:27:21]

FOSTER: Now, a major economic warning sign. The conflicts in the Middle East have pushed oil prices above $100 a barrel. Brent crude, the global

oil benchmark, jumping by 7 percent just in one day. That is surpassing the $100 mark for the first time since May. It comes as Yemen's Houthi rebels

claim to have targeted two Saudi ships in the Red Sea.

I want to bring in the Director of the Middle East Program at Defense Priorities, Rosemary Kalanek.

Thank you so much for joining us, because this is a huge concern, isn't it? The speed of this movement. Analysts clearly looking at the Middle East

thinking there's a risk no oil could get out of the region.

ROSEMARY KELANIC, DIRECTOR, MIDDLE EAST PROGRAM AT DEFENSE PRIORITIES: Yes, that's right. It's a big problem. The Strait of Hormuz has been

effectively shut almost completely, certainly compared to the pre-war days. And now the Bab El-Mandeb and the Red Sea is being jeopardized by the

Houthis attacking tankers, Saudi oil tankers operating there.

And of course, that was the bypass route from the Strait of Hormuz for a significant amount of oil going to global markets. So, this development is

very negative from the point of view of the global economy and the U.S. economy.

FOSTER: The third option, I guess, is going all the way around Africa, which is going to add a huge amount of cost to any fuel, but I think what

we're looking at with the Red Sea is that Saudi oil, which is obviously crucial, will be completely trapped because it won't be able to get out of

the waterway.

Well, it can divert up through the Suez Canal if the Houthis are unable to target it effectively there. The further that you get away from Yemen, the

harder it is for them to land shots, you know, sort of consistently on tankers and menace them. So, it's possible some oil gets out by going

through Suez, but you also have the problem that the Suez Canal capacity is limited, and you can't send the largest oil tankers through it if they're

fully laden. So that's going to add additional delays in routing time, and it's going to suppress the total amount of oil per day that can come out,

even if they go through Suez.

FOSTER: And we're not just talking oil cargoes, are we? We're talking all sorts of cargoes moving between Europe and Asia that use these routes.

KELANIC: That's right. And that's important for global shipping, but it's also important for Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia now as a country, all of its

ports are effectively blockaded. And that's a big pain for the Saudi economy, not just for their oil exports, which is what we're really focused

on, but also for their oil, or I'm sorry, for their food imports and their imports of consumer goods, et cetera.

So, it's going to contribute to global economic problems, global inflation potentially, but it's also targeted specifically at Saudi Arabia, and

they're going to suffer the brunt of this.

FOSTER: What are your predictions then for prices?

KELANIC: Well, I mean, if I had a crystal ball, I'd be a very, very wealthy woman. But I don't see how prices go down unless Trump either makes

a deal with the Iranians. You know, well, actually, that's the only solution. He makes a deal with the Iranians, or he simply goes home and

lets regional actors make a deal with the Iranians.

There is, in the short term, no bypass route that is viable. the most viable, sort of cheapest, reliable way is to pay the toll to the Iranians

to get oil out of the Persian Gulf. And that's a bad outcome of this war. But it is the world that we're in right now. And it's a better outcome than

having a cork on all flows out of the Middle East to global markets.

FOSTER: Because he's currently talking simply about going in harder, harder on Iran to try to loosen up the straight hall news, but also

expanding the war against the Houthis to try to make sure that that waterway in the Red Sea remains open. I mean, what do you think of that as

a solution?

KELANIC: It's not a solution. It's not a real solution. We fought a war with the Houthis before last year during Operation Rough Rider, and we

bombed them, you know, witheringly for more than a month. And the best that the Pentagon could show for it was saying how many munitions they had

dropped. But we weren't able to prevent the Houthis from continuing to attack shipping.

And the U.S. eventually just gave up because they concluded that it wasn't worth the cost. The Houthis, just like Iran, they use pretty cheap missiles

and drones to attack. It costs a lot of money to defend against those, and it costs a lot of money to try to blow them up from the air. So, we're

never going to be able to deny them the capability to attack the shipping.

And as the these and Iranians have shown, they don't have to destroy all of these vessels. All they have to do is threaten them credibly. And that's

enough to suppress traffic. It's enough to shut everything down. So, there's no military solution to this. And the sooner that Trump figures

that out, the sooner we get on a path where we get some kind of viable outcome that allows oil shipments to resume to the global market.

FOSTER: Rosemary Kelanic, thank you so much for that perspective. Pragmatic one to the situation that's going to affect so many people around

the world if it continues.

KELANIC: Thank you.

FOSTER: Now, in the final moments of trade on Wall Street, stocks are down whilst oil's up. The Dow shedding 500 points on the back of that surge in

oil prices and a sell-off in tech stocks.

This is our Business Breakout.

European Union has fined Google a billion dollars for breaching competition rules. The E.U. said Google failed to comply with legislation by promoting

its own services on Google search over those of its competitors. Shares of Google's parent company, Alphabet, meanwhile, have fallen today as

investors weigh the company's increased A.I. spending.

Tesla shares also down after the company reported its first quarter of negative free cash flows in over two years. Shares in the electric car

maker dropping more than 14 percent today.

Taco Bell offering $1 lettuce-free meals in an attempt to lure back customers. Taco Bell's business has taken a major hit after lettuce served

there was linked to a diarrhea-causing parasite outbreak.

A pair of shoes are taking the running world by storm. Professional athletes and casual joggers alike are using the so-called super shoes

across the globe. So, what exactly is giving them an extra spring in their step?

We sent CNN creator Matias Grez to find out.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATIAS GREZ, CNN CREATOR (voice-over): In the world of running, there's one item of footwear that's dominating the global conversation, so-called

super shoes.

In this bag is my first pair.

GREZ: So, I'm really excited to try these on. I've obviously seen the pro athletes wearing them at the major races, like the recent London Marathon,

but I've never got to try a pair on for myself.

Oh, nice color. Wow. They are so light.

They're pushing me forward. They are so bouncy.

GREZ (voice-over): First worn at the 2016 Rio Olympics, super shoes are now a staple among elite distance athletes.

[15:35:06]

At this year's London Marathon, they were also on the feet of the two men who broke the two-hour barrier for the first time, and the woman who set a

new world record.

SEBASTIAN SAWE, LONDON MARATHON WINNER: This shoe is very light. comfortable and so supportive.

New Balance have given us this pair to try out. Nike, Adidas, Asics all make their own version of super shoes too, along with most major

manufacturers.

SARA TALIA, NEW BALANCE RUNNING COACH: Shoulder back. Nice relaxing arm movement. Knees up to 90 degrees. Engage your foot. Okay. So, we're going

to work through all the way up to our usual point.

GREZ (voice-over): I've joined this run club for a short evening jog around a park in Doha. I couldn't help but notice quite a few runners here

are wearing super shoes.

GREZ: Tell me a bit about your first time wearing them and what did you notice?

WALEED AL SHOULY, RUNNER: Yeah, yeah, of course, of course, I noticed this instantly, you know, the speeds, you sense the difference, you know what I

mean? First time I wore it, it was kind of uncomfortable. I wasn't used to that feel, that carbon blazer, that's what makes it amazing, mostly I used

it for races. So, it wouldn't be for daily runs or whatnot.

I can't walk in them. After my race, I do take them off.

GREZ: Straight away.

AL SHOULY: Yeah, straight away. But they're fast. They give you a good improvement. You know, you can see the difference between the regular run

and when you're racing.

GREZ: Have you noticed any change in the shoe tech that people are wearing?

TALIA: So, I've seen definitely an upward trend in using kind of a super shoe with a carbon plate shoe. You feel that bounce, but it's not. There

are like shoes with cushioning where you feel like it kind of absorbs your energy. But this cushioning is kind of you feel like it's a rebound. OK?

So, you sense it when you go into your especially your fast runs. You feel it more not just physically, I think mentally as well. It kind of sharpens

you, but you feel that different feeling is in the stride.

GREZ (voice-over): In April, I tried to run the average speed of the London Marathon winner who was wearing super shoes, in my regular dumb

shoes, as some people called them. It didn't end well.

Liam James McManus is the head of podiatry at Sports Science Hospital Aspetar in Doha. He explained how the advantages of the new shoe tech work.

LIAM JAMES MCMANUS, HEAD OF PODIATRY, ASPETAR: So traditionally speaking, if you've got a traditional shoe like this, you might be a heel striker.

But when you wear a super shoe or a carbon plate shoe with a geometry like this, you're really going to transition from that heel strike to that mid

to forefoot immediately.

A bit of a warning, you've going to be prepared for that as well, from a body point of view, and from a muscle point of view as well. You've got to

be able to tolerate this. And that's where sometimes people fall short with their injuries.

GREZ: One phrase that I've seen quite a lot recently is running economy. These super shoes say they save a certain amount of percent of running

economy with every step. I think I kind of get what that means, but what exactly is running economy?

MCMANUS: To be honest, it depends who you are and what level you're kind of practicing at. But yeah, if you've got this high stack carbon plate and

geometry here, You're going to be a little bit more efficient, aren't you? So the research suggests maybe four percent, three percent, all the way up

to seven percent, depending on what you're actually-- what level you're kind of practicing at.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have expanded the horizon of human potential. You have done what many believed could not be done.

GREZ (voice-over): The question I was left asking is how much shoe development is too much? And as several sports have outlawed certain models

of super shoes for exceeding sole size and stiffness regulations, are we at risk of blurring athletic achievement with advancements in tech?

Back at the run club, it was time for a few laps to see how they felt in action.

GREZ: The difference is incredible, but one thing I did notice was having to change my running style. As soon as I changed that, to landing more on

the front of my foot or the ball of my foot, I noticed how much more of a difference the super shoes made, kind of springing me forward.

All in all, successful first run with the super shoes, I think, but I think I'm going to need a bit more training to complete a marathon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Still to come, one of Spain's largest wildfires on record, spreading fast as firefighters try to get it under control in the middle of

a heat wave.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:42:53]

FOSTER: Hundreds of firefighters in Spain are battling one of the country's biggest wildfires on record. In central Spain, dozens of villages

are facing mandatory evacuations just days after a deadly fire in the southern part of the country, as CNN's Pau Mosquera now reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAU MOSQUERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Emergency sirens have become an all-too-familiar sound during Europe's summers. Increasingly frequent,

intense and prolonged heat waves 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, and

other blazes 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.

[15:45:03]

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 is 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.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: This just into CNN. We were talking about it earlier. The U.S. Justice Department is dropping its subpoenas now against "New York Times"

reporters who reported on security concerns about President Trump's new Air Force One jet. The paper had reported that the president left the NATO

summit in Turkey on the old Air Force One because the new Qatari donated plane lacked the necessary security upgrades. Critics believe the Justice

Department lawsuit was part of the president's pressure campaign to force journalists to reveal their sources.

Now, protesters in India want the education minister to resign. Young demonstrators have taken to the streets for weeks now, partly over a leaked

exam paper scandal. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has now commented on the issue for the very first time, promising swift and stringent punishment for

those involved.

CNN's Rhea Mogul reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RHEA MOGUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: 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 fire tear gas. The baton 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 Thursday, while avoiding any direct reference to the protests, Modi said India's youth were, quote, "important" and pledged action against exam

paper leaks. A rare acknowledgement for a leader known for keeping a distance when the political pressure mounts. 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)

FOSTER: Still to come, peptides are creating a buzz on social media, but are they safe? Why it soon could be easier to get access to them. Details

ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:51:15]

FOSTER: Regulators are taking a closer look at peptides, which are the building blocks of proteins. An advisory panel to the U.S. Food and Drug

Administration. meets this week to review restrictions on certain peptides. Some doctors and influencers say they improve muscle recovery and boost

overall health.

But as Dr. Sanjay Gupta now reports, not everyone agrees.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERT F. KENNEDY, JR., HHS SECRETARY: I'm a big fan of peptides. I've used them myself.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Trump's health secretary, is embracing peptides. And

he isn't alone. The global market is projected to more than double by 2034.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Peptides. You want to know more about peptides? Look at my stash.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you're curious about peptides but have no idea where to start, then this one is for you.

GUPTA (voice-over): Let's start with the basics. Our bodies have 20 fundamental amino acids. When they combine in short chains, they form

peptides. For instance, this one is KPV.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's talk about KPV.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: KPV, the queen of anti-inflammation.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: KPV, day three.

GUPTA (voice-over): Peptides help regulate different functions in the body, and synthetic versions are promising everything from building muscle

to more youthful skin.

In the United States, some peptides are approved by the Food and Drug Administration, like insulin and semaglutide. That's the peptide in

Ozempic.

But many more are not FDA approved, and they have not been proven safe or effective, including this list of 17 peptides. Until recently, people could

still get these through compounding pharmacies, which made them from raw ingredients. But three years ago, the FDA banned them, citing significant

safety concerns, including the risk of life-threatening allergic reactions.

But that hardly made a dent in the demand. Peptides that were banned by the FDA were still widely bought and used, mostly through unregulated markets.

They skirted the rules by labeling the peptides for research use only.

And now, Secretary Kennedy wants to lift that ban.

KENNEDY: The compounding pharmacies are getting those peptides from FDA- inspected facilities, and some of them in India and China, but they were the same one that the pharmaceutical industries are buying them, and we

inspect those. You know you're getting a good product. You know you're getting what you bought, what was advertised. With the gray market, you

have no idea.

GUPTA (voice-over): This week, an FDA advisory panel is discussing reversing the ban on seven peptides. That's even after an agency review

already said the evidence does not justify letting pharmacies make any of them.

Kennedy, he disagrees.

KENNEDY: Look for a safety signal, and if there is one, then you move it. But if there's not one, then you don't.

GUPTA (voice-over): Critics warn that would essentially reverse decades of how we approve drugs in the United States.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA: So, in many ways, this is a story about peptides, but also about how the FDA is going to handle situations like this going forward. Again,

keep in mind, an advisory committee met a couple of years ago and decided not to approve these peptides. They said there were concerns about safety,

potentially life-threatening concerns. And now there's a new committee, a committee that is made-up largely of people who prescribe peptides, who

promote peptides, who produce peptides.

And now they're the ones who are going to be making these recommendations about peptides.

Look, supporters will say, people are taking the peptides anyway, that hasn't changed. Let's try and make them as safe as possible, take them off

this unregulated market and allow compounding pharmacies to make them here in the United States.

[15:55:00]

Critics will say, look, again, there's no data here and there are significant safety concerns. And when I say no data, when you look at

certain peptides, like BPC-157, that's one of the peptides that's being evaluated now, there really are primarily animal, laboratory, and what are

called open label trials, meaning not placebo-controlled. Someone gives a peptide, they know they're getting a peptide, the physician knows they're

giving a peptide, and they basically follow really small numbers of patients to see what happens.

That's not the kind of data that the FDA typically requires for an approval. So, we'll see what happens with these committee meeting hearings.

They are not binding. The FDA will take them under advisement, and we'll see what the FDA ultimately decides.

FOSTER: Dr. Sanjay Gupta reporting for us there on that huge talking point on social.

I'm Max Foster, and that is WHAT WE KNOW. Do stay with CNN.

END

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