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What We Know with Max Foster

Japan Earthquake Knocks Out Power, Ruptures Roads; Fourth Heat Wave Hits Europe As Flames Ravage France, Spain; Now; Funeral Of Longtime U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham; White House: Meetings With Zelenskyy, Netanyahu "Positive & Productive"; Musk Loses $600B In Net Worth As SpaceX Shares Slide. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired July 28, 2026 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:30]

MAX FOSTER, CNN HOST: Rescuers race to free people trapped in a Japanese mall.

This is WHAT WE KNOW.

Japan's public broadcaster reporting at least four rescues from the rubble of the Aeon Mall. It has partially collapsed after a powerful earthquake

rocked the southwestern island of Kyushu earlier. According to reports, several people have been killed and others are unaccounted for across the

island.

Hanako Montgomery has more now on the scale of the devastation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A calm afternoon turned to chaos as a powerful earthquake and a series of aftershocks rattled the

Japanese island of Kyushu on Tuesday. Buildings burned, this train overturned, a shrine wrecked and a bridge collapsed.

The full scale of the damage still being assessed around the epicenter in Japan's southern Kumamoto Prefecture. Inside the mangled wreckage of this

partially collapsed shopping mall, several people were reported trapped after an explosion rocked the building following the quake, Japan's public

broadcaster NHK said.

The wall of the historic Kumamoto Castle, a top tourist attraction, was also seen crumbling as the quake struck.

"How can I put it? I felt as if my body was hovering midair, so for a moment I didn't realize it was an earthquake," this witness said. "It was

only when I saw it collapse that it dawned on me that it was an earthquake."

The castle was previously damaged in the 2016 earthquakes, which killed nearly 300 people in Kumamoto and Oita prefectures. South of Kumamoto City,

buildings and homes in Uki City and Yatsushiro City were also impacted. Thousands of homes were left without power. And multiple people were

unaccounted for after this chimney collapsed at a paper factory in Yatsushiro City, NHK reported.

Japan's meteorological agency warning residents in areas that felt the biggest tremors to be prepared for further strong quakes and landslides in

the week ahead.

Hanako Montgomery, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Let's speak to Joshua Macabuag. He's an urban search and rescue engineer and technician for the group Search and Rescue Assistance in

disasters.

Thank you so much for joining us.

You know you had experience in Japan. Actually, we should say that many of the buildings did survive very effectively here, as they're designed to do,

but there was this mall that was very badly hit. What do you understand happened here from a distance?

JOSHUA MACABUAG, URBAN SEARCH & RESCUE ENGINEER AND TECHNICIAN, SARAID: Sure, from a distance, of course, it's very early to say exactly what's

happened in this particular case. But what you can say with certainty is that Japan is a very prepared country in terms of earthquakes, disaster

response, and seismic engineering, the buildings are designed for these types of events. And you can see that here where you have a magnitude of

event and a significant earthquake has happened. There's not that much damage, there's a few buildings that have been damaged and there are some

reports, et cetera.

So, in the majority of cases, then what Japanese engineering is very good for, has done its purpose and rescued the buildings. There are some cases

of damage though, and these will be exceptions. And it's too early to say exactly what the cause is. But the Aeon Mall, for example, my understanding

is from very early reports that the building had actually, I believe, been evacuated or there was the earthquake and then there was a period and then

there was a report of an explosion. And the image there of the facade of the building having been blown out does look like, in fact, an explosion of

some type and --

FOSTER: Yeah, we should point out that when we say explosion, the reports are there was a gas explosion. So, these buildings contain obviously gas

pipelines and somehow they were triggered causing, you know, the collapse of that second floor. That's what we understand.

Is that something you can plan to protect?

MACABUAG: Oh, well, certainly. I mean, this won't be the only building in the affected area. It will have an abundance of gas there. So obviously

something has gone wrong here. the combination of gas and regular earthquakes which will be designed for to a high standard in Japan, meaning

that other buildings of similar risk obviously haven't had this kind of defects in this kind of challenge here.

[15:05:05]

So something specific has gone wrong here and that will be cause of investigation in the coming weeks and months, I'm sure. But, of course, the

initial focus for the hours right now is, as you saw in those images earlier, for the rescue and location of those that are still trapped

inside, both those that have -- there will be some people that are injured, some people that will be looking to be rescued as well. And that's clearly

the focus of those that are on the ground at the moment.

FOSTER: You spent time in Japan. I mean, what are the response protocols here because it's interesting to see, as you pointed out, many of the

shoppers got out. It appears that many of the staff are the ones that were left behind.

MACABUAG: Yes, exactly. So, in terms of rescue protocol and yes, time in Japan. I visited Japan just following the 2011 Great East Japan earthquake

and tsunami as part of the U.K.'s earthquake engineering field investigation team. And that was obviously a very major event on the very

opposite side of the country.

And again, that's where you can see the strong earthquake engineering and the good disaster response of Japan in action. And in terms of disaster

response, then that's what they'll be enacting here.

So, you asked about the protocol for rescue. Then, of course, for this type of event, this is different to the kind of international search and rescue

that can happen in other types of disasters. In Japan, you're of course talking about the local emergency management authorities, in this case, the

emergency services there that are coordinating their responses.

There is that protocol that I wouldn't be able to say, but it would generally be along the same side, that sort of thing of they would have

immediately recorded the site and confirmed who is still in the building and who has been taken out of the building. as far as possible. They will

have eliminated services, of course, there's concern about gas here understandably there'll be other services there like electrics, water, et

cetera, as well. Those will all need to be turned off immediately and then they'll be conducting systematic searches of the building and there are a

number of ways that they can do that they'll be sectorizing the building, understanding which parts have not been accessed and then systematically

going through those until they can close off all parts of the building and be certain that anyone is that -- is in there has been found.

And that will, of course, include parts of the building that can be searched on foot. And then there are parts that would have collapsed. And

those collapsed areas will have to go through, again, a very detailed search of moving over any kind of rubble piles within the building or on

top of the building and accessing any kind of voids or exploring any voids that they can find, accessing those voids until they can clear the entire

building and be certain that they've found everybody that can be found.

FOSTER: Joshua Macabaug, appreciate your thoughts on that devastation that we're seeing. You really get a sense of it, don't you, from those aerials.

Thank you.

Now, there is little relief in sight in France and Spain, where devastating wildfires have led to near apocalyptic scenes. Temperatures are expected to

soar this week and rain isn't in the forecast. The video here shows a firefighter battling the flames in southwestern France. Hundreds of

thousands of people have been evacuated in both countries. In many cases, entire neighborhoods have been reduced to ash and rubble.

Nada Bashir is in Bordeaux, and there's an ominous moment tomorrow, Nada, isn't there, when temperatures are due to peak, and we're talking at record

levels, right?

NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, we are expecting to see peak temperatures on Wednesday as the temperatures intensify as the heat wave

settles in, potentially nearing 40 degrees Celsius, soaring past 100 degrees Fahrenheit. And that is the key concern here that those intense

temperatures could lead to further fire spreading across this part of southwestern France could intensify the wildfires that are already blazing

through forests and land across this region.

Now, we have firefighters and first responders working around the clock in this region to try to battle and contain the fires that are currently

tiring through this particular region of southwestern France, and we have seen the impact firsthand. Just a little earlier today, we were on a brief

tour with the firefighters as they were going through this particular region and we saw firsthand the miles and miles of forest destroyed by the

fires blackened the scorched trees and of course homes as well that have been destroyed by the blaze.

And what we've been hearing today from authorities is that they have seen at least 14 incidences of fires as well that have been destroyed by the

blaze and what we've been hearing today from authorities is that they have seen at least 14 incidences of fires rekindling where they once had been

contained.

[15:10:02]

It is understood that those restarted fires have once again been contained. But again, there is a concern that we could see the situation once again

tomorrow and that will only exacerbate the current struggle that these first responders are facing and for the residents of this region that will

also be a huge concern. We've already seen at least 200,000 people evacuated from this region, forced to flee their homes with no certainty as

to when they'll be able to return home, whether their homes will still be standing when they do return.

There has been some positive news today. We've been speaking to officials who have told us that at least three of the towns which had been told to

evacuate have now been given the all clear. So, around 60,000 residents have been given the green light to return home, but there are still 20

other towns and cities that are under that order and that evacuation zone could continue to expand if the situation worsens.

And of course, there are thousands of people working around the clock as part of this response effort. We're talking about 2,500 firefighters, 1,500

military personnel, as well as 1,200 police officers as well. And we've seen that presence on the ground.

And I have to underscore this really is a ghost town. Now, this is an area which would typically be very busy with holidaymakers, this entire region

during the summer months. But it is a ghost town populated solely by first responders at this current point in time. And there isn't any clarity on

when exactly these fires will be brought under control.

FOSTER: OK, Nada Bashir from France, thank you so much for bringing us that update.

Let's bring in a spokesperson for the French Interior Ministry, Lieutenant Colonel Frederic Harrault. He joins us actually from Armenia, where he's on

a work trip. But obviously, you're being updated constantly about the situation in France.

I mean, I was speaking to a European researcher yesterday, and he said what's really notable about these European fires this year is that they're

hitting France in a way that we haven't seen before. It feels like they're moving northwards, these fires.

LT. COL. FREDERIC HARRAULT, SPOKESPERSON, FRENCH INTERIOR MINISTRY: Yes, that's really what we see since years now. But I would say that it's

something never seen before of this size, having this kind of fire in the northern than usual, and this size, this speed also, and this intensity.

FOSTER: In terms of the government response, it's a huge effort, isn't it? We're looking at these firefighters working there. How long can you keep

this level of response up? Because we've heard that the fires could go on for months.

HARRAULT: Yes, as long as it's needed. The organization in France is based on the local level. So, you have the prefect, which is a kind of governor

in charge of all the security in the Gironde. So, this prefect are in charge of the police, the firefighter services, and is managing the crisis.

and the fire is directing the operation with the onsite commander, which is a firefighter.

And then all the upper level, the national capacities, are there on support. So, all the helicopters, the planes, all the firefighters from all

of France are on support, the military units we have for civil protection, and all the services, volunteers, and so on, as well as European support.

We have some aerial capacities from all over Europe. and some colleagues from the country around on the ground.

So, all these capacities are under the direction of the prefect in order to fight, to tackle this fire. And as long as it is needed to extinguish, then

we organize the rotation with all these services, with all the fire to support.

FOSTER: Are you concerned that Bordeaux might be affected the city?

HARRAULT: So, we stay -- we're still aware of it. We're still aware to the direction of the wind, to the weather. We have done a lot of things in the

forest to clear some area. We can see on the screen this work. A huge work has been done in order to stop the fire, or if not to stop, at least to

reduce the intensity in order to be able to extinguish in this area and to avoid.

This is our priority. to save the life of the people, and then the environment and the houses, of course. So, we have created all this very

large line, clear line, all around the cities in order to avoid the fire to get in the suburb of Bordeaux.

[15:15:00]

FOSTER: Okay, Lieutenant Colonel Frederic Harrault, appreciate you joining us today with an update on France. Thank you.

Now, local charitable organizations say they've been inundated with generous support. Now they're asking for financial donations as well to

help people to rebuild after the fires are over.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LISE TOUSSAINT, NATIONAL BUREAU MEMBER, FRENCH POPULAR RELIEF: In fact, we have everything. We have more than everything what we need in the material

things. We have so much that we have to say to the people, no, we cannot take anything again.

Even the place where the people are -- to sleep have to say, no, please don't give us something else because there is too much things. There is too

much generosity with material things. Now we need money. We need money to help the people after, to prepare the after when the fire will be stopped.

Now, after this time, we will need money to, yes, to help them to live again, to find a house again. Even if the house is burned, then we will

help them with the money to rebuild it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Okay, so right now, Washington as well paying a final tribute to a powerful politician. You are looking at live pictures from the funeral

service of Senator Lindsey Graham in Washington, the president there sitting and most of the cabinet.

Graham served more than two decades in the Senate and was one of the leading voices on U.S. foreign policy. He died suddenly less than three

weeks ago, only hours after returning home from a trip to Ukraine.

Earlier today, Graham made his final visit to the U.S. Capitol, where many of his congressional colleagues gathered to say goodbye. The South Carolina

senator was known for his willingness to work with Democrats to find compromises in an increasingly polarized Senate.

Lindsey Graham was also known as a Trump whisperer, someone who often swayed Mr. Trump during their forays around the golf course. The president

remembered his friend just a short time ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He was the first person to make you laugh and one of the last people that you've really ever wanted to

fight. These were the traits that made him into one of the great figures in Senate history, few like him.

As a boy, Lindsey also learned his first lessons in diplomacy when the wife of one regular patron called the bar asking for her husband. She demanded

to know where is he. The man instructed Lindsey, tell her I'm not here. And young Lindsey nodded and said into the phone to the wife, He said to tell

you that he's not here. That was Lindsey.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Let's go to Lauren Fox, who's at the National Cathedral.

It was a very personal speech, wasn't it, from the president, that you really got a sense of how the senator crossed so many lines, you know,

between Ukraine -- supporting Ukraine and Israel at the same time, but also how he did work with Democrats. And the president spoke previously, didn't

he, about how the senator could always find him a Democrat. Quite an extraordinary figure in Washington.

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, I think Senator Graham believed in the importance of relationships if you wanted to be effective

in Washington. I think there were a lot of Democrats who wondered after how Senator Graham had campaigned in 2015 against Donald Trump and the

Republican primary, how Graham could ever forge this close relationship with a man that he wants really urged Republican voters to go out against

and to banish from the Republican Party.

And the belief from so many senators that I've talked to is that Lindsey Graham knew that if he wanted to impact Donald Trump foreign policy,

domestic policy that was important to him, he needed to make inroads with Donald Trump. And obviously, he did more than just have a working

relationship with the Oval Office. He went on to have a very close personal relationship that was forged over games of golf, over late night phone

calls and Senator Graham once famously had his cell phone number released by President Donald Trump, which Trump talked about today. And then Trump

joked he never got to live it down because after that, Senator Graham just continued to call him over the next decade.

So, it obviously was a relationship in which the two men were able to have this open dialogue on just a regular basis. And you know, it did have some

real indelible marks on Donald Trump's presidency, one of which, course, is the ongoing conflict with Iran. Another, of course, the fact that he was

always able to keep the relationship between Ukraine and the United States on the tracks, even though there were certainly moments and about a year

ago in the Oval Office was one of those moments in which it looked like the President and Zelenskyy may never have a working relationship again.

[15:20:07]

Senator Graham made it his business to ensure that that relationship was repaired. In reporting that I've done, and certainly it was the case that

Senator Graham continued to have those relationships with Democrats, even at a time when, in the United States Senate, it was not always clear that

both sides were talking or communicating effectively. Senator Graham always had an open line of communication -- Max.

FOSTER: Lauren Fox, appreciate it as that service continues in Washington.

The Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenskyy is there, as is the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. They've been meeting separately as well

with President Trump. It was the first time the U.S. and Israeli leaders held talks since launching a war on Iran back in February. Mr. Netanyahu

was expected to press for a tougher approach as his relationship with President Trump has become increasingly strained.

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, meanwhile, is thanking Mr. Trump for what he called a good meeting. Ukraine wants more air defenses in the war against

Russia, as well as help in advancing diplomatic efforts.

The White House says both meetings were positive and productive.

Kevin Liptak joins us from Washington.

You weren't allowed in, were you, Kevin? So quite generic comments coming out of those meetings, but we knew what both men wanted going in.

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yeah. And it was interesting. I think a year ago, if you had asked who was better positioned

going into their Oval Office meeting today, Volodymyr Zelenskyy or Benjamin Netanyahu, you would have immediately said Benjamin Netanyahu. He has this

affinity for Donald Trump. They are very close personally. They have known each other quite some time. And Volodymyr Zelenskyy had just come from that

berating that he received in the Oval Office in February of last year.

But, you know, the role seems to have been reversed. is on an upswing with the president, who sees Ukraine gaining some traction in the war there. He

sees Zelenskyy as having the front foot in a lot of ways, and also, I think who has done a lot to repair what was a very sour relationship at the very

beginning of this administration.

Contrast that with Benjamin Netanyahu, who in the view of a lot of Trump aides did drag the president into this war with Iran, he would vehemently

deny. But you cannot deny that he did come to the White House in February of this year, sat in the Situation Room, told President Trump that the

regime would fall very quickly in Tehran, that the ballistic missile program would be decimated, that they would be too weak to close the Strait

of Hormuz, and now five and a half months later none of that has come true.

And the relationship is quite erratic. You know, there have been these expletive-laden phone calls. between the president and the prime minister,

arguing about a strategy in the region. President Trump just today, hours before Netanyahu arrived, seemed to complain in a phone interview on Fox

News that Netanyahu was out talking about the Iranians' nuclear program at Pickaxe Mountain in a way that he thought was better communicated and

private. And so, the roles seem to have been reversed.

Now, both of these meetings seems to have gone fairly well, the White House saying that they were productive and positive. Netanyahu came out and said

that it was the best meeting he'd ever had with President Trump.

Now, what all of this means in practice, both for the Iran war and for the Ukraine war, we just don't know at this point, but nothing seems to have

gone completely off the rails.

FOSTER: OK, Kevin Liptak, thank you so much for that.

Now coming up, the world's richest man facing a major loss. Details ahead on why Elon Musk is no longer a trillionaire.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:27:01]

FOSTER: Elon Musk has lost his trillionaire status. The founder and CEO of SpaceX has seen his net worth shrink by roughly $600 billion. That's

because SpaceX shares have sunk from their post-IPO peak. Meanwhile, investors are wondering if a merger with Tesla could be on the horizon.

What we want to know is why are SpaceX shares slumping?

Joining me now, CNN's David Goldman.

I guess all the A.I.-related stocks are pretty volatile right now.

DAVID GOLDMAN, CNN BUSINESS SENIOR REPORTER: You got it. Yeah, I mean, so what's $600 billion between friends, right? I mean, it's a significant

decline, but he's still worth $700 billion. It's important to put that into context. And when you compare Elon Musk to other billionaires, he is still

way ahead.

Larry Page, the Google founder, just below him at $281 billion. Certainly Elon Musk still has a lot of wealth, but as you mentioned, SpaceX's IPO

just not really off to the best start. You can see this kind of slide like trajectory that the stock has taken.

It's down around 30 percent from the IPO, but you know, this is coming back just a little bit. Still, one of the worst performing IPOs in history to

this date, Max, and I think that you hit the nail on the head. A.I. is the big thing here.

SpaceX is spending $13 billion a year on A.I., and just in the first quarter alone, $8 billion. Certainly, there is a lot on on the line here

and you can see those losses starting to pile up, right? Almost the same loss, over $4 billion, in the first quarter that had in the previous year

alone.

And as investors broadly are getting nervous about AI, they're certainly taking a lot of that out on SpaceX.

FOSTER: OK. David Goldman, thank you so much. As you say, what's a few hundred billion dollars?

Still to come, a new problem for Boeing and its Max jets. We'll explain why more than 400 seats may need to be reinstalled.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:32:39]

FOSTER: Now to the latest in the Middle East. The pause in the fighting and the potential to restart ceasefire talks between the U.S. and Iran

pushing oil prices down. Today, the price of Brent crude, the global benchmark, dropping a further 5 percent. It's just a few days since Brent

was trading above $100 a barrel.

Prime Minister Netanyahu wants to keep the focus squarely on Iran, but hundreds of former Israeli military and security officials have written

what they call a red alert letter to President Trump, urging him to press Israel on soaring violence by settlers in the middle -- in the West Bank.

They said it's threatening to ignite the region, accusing members of the Israeli government of orchestrating the chaos.

A U.N. envoy warned the Security Council the situation has deteriorated in just the last few days after attacks on multiple Palestinian towns. The

Palestinian ambassador says Israeli forces are enabling settler violence as part of a strategy to annex Palestinian land.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RIYAD MANSOUR, PALESTINIAN AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N.: Israel is seeking escalation in the West Bank, whether to justify further repression, to

facilitate annexation and displacement, or for electoral purposes. Yes, confronted with the prospects of losing the upcoming election, Netanyahu is

seeking electoral gains on the blood of Palestinians and even Israelis.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: All this happening is Israel's defense minister says he's ordered the military to take over another refugee camp in the West Bank following

deadly clashes between settlers, soldiers and Palestinians last week.

Nic Robertson is following developments in Jerusalem.

It does feel as though we're in this new ongoing phase, Nic, in the violence there.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yeah, I think there's certainly a perspective from the Palestinian side that while this

government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has sort of in its last three months in office, it wants to try to create some facts on the ground

and is using situations that develop in the West Bank to expedite that. And that's certainly how this statement by the defense minister about a refugee

camp in the West Bank, we don't know which one. It's very likely to be one that's close to the area that is about a refugee camp in the West Bank. We

don't know which one.

It's very likely to be one that's close to the area that Israeli defense forces closed off to search for what they were calling attackers and

Palestinian terrorists following an incident on Friday.

[15:35:07]

This particular refugee camp, if it is, this one has a population about 20,000 to 25,000. So, it's not an insignificant area. And when we think of

refugee camps, this is not a sort of a tented diaspora. These are displaced Palestinians displaced in 1948, displaced in 1967. And they live in houses

and built-up communities and areas, and they've been there in some cases for generations.

So, what the defense minister is suggesting here is a significant movement of the Palestinian population there. Now what we saw over the weekend on

Friday, we went out after four Palestinians and two Israeli IDF officers had been killed in an incident which is still -- it's hard to know

precisely what happens. Both sides have counter accusations. A few settlers showed up in a village Tal then according to this is according to the

villagers there and then they said about a family of the villagers came out to support that family then the IDF arrived who were armed with settlers

who were armed, and then guns were involved a gun got pulled away from one of the -- one of the IDF and that's how the situation developed.

Now, the prime minister said this was the IDF trying to deal with Palestinian terrorists. The government here often describes these settlers

who show up more commonly and more frequently than ever in Palestinian villages as not representative of settlers as a whole, just a few dozen.

But that doesn't seem to reflect the sense of Palestinians on what we saw in another Palestinian village. Close to that was the words revenge

scrawled on the wall a few hours after that earlier attack. Revenge, apparently, it was in Hebrew. It was by a group of settlers who'd come

there, who burnt a carpentry shop, who burnt vehicles, who destroyed an ancient olive grove there.

That rippled through the weekend, settlers showing up in a couple of Palestinian villages in the area, setting fire to mosques, the word revenge

used again. So, it's heated, it's emotive, it's caused the concern of the U.N. secretary-general. So, the sort of expansion, if you will, of the

ongoing military operation in this area, if that's where this refugee camp is, is certainly going to be viewed by Palestinians as an acceleration of

an effort to drive them off the land, their cultural icons, the mosques, a shrine we saw burned, their economy, their livelihoods.

We saw several cases of olive groves being uprooted over the weekend. So, there's a real sort of head of steam built over the weekend. But it's part

of something that's been building and accelerating for a couple of years, and hence the growing international concern.

FOSTER: OK. Nic Robertson in Jerusalem, appreciate that. Thank you so much.

Now, in the final moments of trade on Wall Street, the Dow is bouncing back, the index rising by about 600 points after strong blue chip earnings.

This our Business Breakout.

Iran's government wants Iranians to use less energy or face power cuts, gas production taking a hit during the war with the United States. So, a

government spokesperson asked the public to conserve energy. Iran's energy ministry has already told Iranians to cut down on air conditioning use

despite temperatures hitting 50 degrees Celsius in some regions.

Johnson & Johnson has set aside $5.5 billion to settle claims that its talcum powder caused ovarian cancer. The company is facing thousands of

lawsuits in the U.S., which J&J calls meritless. Scientific studies have been mixed over whether the talcum powder increases the risk of cancer.

Apple will now let customers lease a new iPhone instead of buying it. Starting today, Apple is teaming up with the payment platform Klarna to let

users take out a monthly contract for a new Apple gadget. It comes as electronic prices are rising and consumers are holding onto their devices

for longer.

A new problem for Boeing and its 737 Max jets. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration says seats on more than 400 Max jets were incorrectly

installed. If the seats aren't fixed, they could potentially injure passengers in an emergency situation, as Pete Muntean explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: This is just the latest issue involving Boeing 737 Max jets. Remember, there were major manufacturing

quality control concerns after critical bolts were not installed on a new 737 Max at the Boeing factory, leading to that dramatic door plug blowout

on an Alaska Airlines flight back in January 2024 and a massive crackdown by the Federal Aviation Administration.

[15:40:07]

What's interesting here is that FAA says this new warning was prompted by a report it received, essentially by a whistleblower. Here's the issue. The

FAA says passenger seats may not be properly secured on as many as 453 737 Max 8s and Max 9s in the United States. So now the FAA is proposing

mandatory inspections by airlines of the roughly 69 seat rows on each of those airplanes.

The FAA says that seat assemblies may not be fully locked into the tracks on the cabin floor. It's not necessarily a problem during normal

operations, but the FAA says the issue can become dangerous during severe turbulence or an emergency landing when there are violent acceleration

forces. The FAA warning puts it bluntly, saying seats could come loose and hurt those sitting in them, injure passengers nearby, and even block the

aisle during an evacuation when seconds count. Boeing has not directly commented on this, but it did alert airlines to this potential problem back

in December.

The FAA proposal would simply make these inspections mandatory. United, American, Alaska, Southwest, and Allegiant all operate Boeing 737 MAX

airplanes. The FAA is not grounding these airplanes. And this inspection is relatively straightforward. It doesn't require new parts, so it should not

result in significant downtime for airlines or major flight disruptions for passengers, which is key during this peak of summer travel.

This is a very different issue from the door plug blowout, but it again raises questions about whether basic assembly problems are being caught

before these airplanes enter service.

Pete Muntean, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Still to come, two in one day, why the state of Florida is carrying out two executions today.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:45:02]

FOSTER: The U.S. state of Florida is today doing something that no E.U. nation would allow to happen, and Florida is actually doing it twice. So,

two convicted murderers are being put to death today in Florida, the first time in 60 years that Florida has done two executions in one day. The first

lethal injection happened about two hours ago, the second scheduled for less than three hours from now.

China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen are the only nations who execute prisoners more often than the U.S. does. The U.S. is the only nation in the

Western world that still regularly carries out judicial executions.

For some additional perspective on all this, we welcome Robin Maher, the executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center.

Thank you for joining us, Robin.

ROBIN M. MAHER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, DEATH PENALTY INFORMATION CENTER: Thank you.

FOSTER: Actually, one of these cases, probably one of these death penalties wouldn't actually be carried out under Florida law, as I

understand it, if that trial was held today, am I right?

MAHER: That's absolutely right. I mean, Mr. Duckett was executed, as you said, just a couple of hours ago. His jury was non-unanimous, vote eight-

to-four to sentence him to death.

But Mr. Occhicone received a five-to-five jury verdict. He would not receive a death sentence today in any state in the country if his trial

were held today. Right.

FOSTER: So, this is because a sentence was passed. Is there a case for relooking at those sentences when inevitably there's a long period of time

before the death sentence is actually carried out?

MAHER: Well, that's very true. And many of these men on Florida's death row have been there for a number of years. What's bewildering, I think, to

everyone is why the sudden rush to execute. Governor DeSantis has the sole authority to set execution dates and decide who will be executed. There's

no institutional check on his authority.

Courts and other states ordinarily set those dates. But in Florida, it's Governor DeSantis. And this year, he has scheduled the executions of 12

men. Mr. Occhicone will be the 12th man executed this evening. Last year, Florida led the country in the number of executions nationally. It looks on

pace to do the same again this year.

FOSTER: Is it your belief that if these sentences are to be carried out, they should be unanimous verdicts?

MAHER: Well, only two states in the country currently permit unanimous sentences from juries. They require 12 out of 12 jurors to impose a death

sentence. And that seems right to me because this, of course, is the most severe punishment that we can impose on an individual. Florida and Alabama

both permit sentencing by nonunanimous juries. Florida has the lowest number in the country. Only eight jurors are required to impose that death

sentence.

And there have been a number of changes in the law over the years. Some prisoners have challenged the non-unanimity. They've received new

sentencing hearings. But for a variety of reasons, neither of these men were able to challenge their sentences in a different way.

Mr. Duckett had unresolved DNA claims that were pending. He has always maintained his innocence. And sadly, he was executed before a court was

able to meaningfully evaluate his innocence claims.

FOSTER: How -- how often have these sentences been wrong? I'm just thinking people that would -- if there is an element of doubt in a jury,

obviously the fear is that someone dies, something that you can't take back. How often do we find miscarriages of justice in terms of death

sentences?

MAHER: Yeah, more often than we probably know. We know that there are at least 202 people, innocent people, because they have been exonerated by the

courts. But there are many more who were wrongfully convicted or wrongfully sentenced to death, i.e. don't deserve the death sentence they were given.

And those people have been executed.

So, we don't know exactly how many times we've gotten it wrong, but certainly hundreds of people did not deserve to be sentenced to death, many

of whom, as I say, have already been executed.

FOSTER: Robin Maher, I know it's a very sensitive issue, but it's a moment of history, actually, in Florida. today. Thank you for joining us.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:52:14]

FOSTER: Christopher Nolan's epic film, "The Odyssey", may be a huge hit in theaters worldwide, but the film earns a thumbs down from one of the

leading experts on Homer. Emily Wilson wrote the English language translation of "The Odyssey" that Christopher Nolan actually relied on. to

write his screenplay. She says the film lacks many of the big themes and emotional depth of Homer's poems.

She spoke to CNN's Walter Isaacson about what makes this tale so lasting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EMILY WILSON, ENGLISH-LANGUAGE TRANSLATOR, "THE ODYSSEY": This is a poem that is drawing on very, very ancient pre-existing myth, but also engaging

with its own society. People also love to have culture wars, and in some ways, I want to try to celebrate people coming together over this movie and

over this poem, even if they're coming together in ways that sometimes involve, in my opinion, pretty simplistic kinds of conversations. At least

there's a common cultural ground for people to talk about.

So, I'm trying to turn my frown upside down about culture wars, but I do think quite a lot of it is really not based on a very serious reading of

Homer. One of the many reasons why the Odyssey is having a moment in the 21st century is the fact that the original poem is so much concerned with

these questions about what does it mean to be a good host and what does it mean to be a good guest, that it explores both sides of these complex

political social questions about immigration and about immigration law, immigration attitudes towards immigrants, attitudes towards the migrations

of peoples from one place to another.

Of course, it focuses on one man who is both. a guest and a host. And "The Odyssey" is constantly reminding us that, in most cases, people are not

just one thing or the other. I think we tend, in the more simplistic kinds of modern discourse, to sort of imagine there are some people who are

always the host and some people who are always the guest or the stranger. But of course, actually, I think the poem is more truthful than that,

insofar as it shows us how the same person can be both.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: People still buying tickets.

France's men's football team has a new head coach. World Cup winner Zinedine Zidane will take over from longtime head coach Didier Deschamps.

They had lifted the trophy together in 1998. Zidane is a French football legend who was superstar, Kylian Mbappe's hero, in fact, growing up, but

hasn't held a coaching job since leaving Real Madrid in 2021.

Italy also turning to a familiar face to try to guide the team back to the FIFA Men's World Cup after failing to qualify for the last three

tournaments. Roberto Mancini will return for a second time as national team coach.

Now, an amazing beach rescue to tell you about in California. This video was taken in Santa Cruz. You can see the teenage return for a second time

as national team coach. Now an amazing beach rescue to tell you about in California. This video was taken in Santa Cruz. You can see the teenage

lifeguard battling massive waves to rescue a young swimmer.

[15:55:04]

Several bystanders tried to help the lifeguard, getting pummeled by powerful waves themselves. Eventually, the lifeguard fall off the surf and

was assisted by a fellow guard. They safely brought the boy back to shore. State parks lifeguards say 34 rescues have been made in the same area since

the start of last weekend.

Finally, tonight, an unticketed fan ran on the field at last night's Tigers/Orioles game in Detroit. A black squirrel made its way onto the

field. Lingered around for a while, then made a run for it towards the infield. Soon the entire crowd's crew, ground's crew, was on a mission to

catch him.

Eventually, one of the crew members threw a towel on the squirrel, telling him, "You're out".

I'm Max Foster. That is WHAT WE KNOW. Stay with CNN. We'll have more after the break.

END

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