Unstoppable Floodwaters in Nepal & China Kill more than 150 People

26:21Now, how would this AI have helped her back in 2021 if it had existed? In her case, it sounds like there were a whole set of signs that easily the system would have caught. Her temperature was rising. Her heart rate was rising. She was breathing heavily. Her white blood cell count was amazing. Her white blood cell count was very high. And I'm so happy that she's fine. But there were just so many signs. I think it was almost, in her case, it seemed like almost 14 to 18 hours earlier would be obvious to the machine. Suchi gave me a demonstration of how her AI program works. Doctors and nurses are always looking at this thing called the patient list.

27:01They want to know who are the patients in the unit, where are they, what's happening, some high-level information. And then we embed information within it. And you can see this patient. Oh, there's the sepsis flag chart. Yes. There are different views they can go to that gives a sense for what's going on with this patient, why this patient was flagged, what's anomalous, culling data from this past encounter, looking at it over time, looking at all sorts of other events that are related, which then makes it very easy. In 30 seconds, they can look at it and either disagree or agree. And these in red are the reasons why the sepsis alert has gone off?

27:34Yeah, we flagged reasons for concern that we want them to look at it more carefully. Okay. How often does a sepsis alert go off and they don't have sepsis? Sepsis is like what's called a needle in a haystack condition, which means in about 100 patients, maybe two patients will have sepsis. What our system shows is that in that very, very difficult scenario, we basically flag one out of every two or one out of every three flags are correct. And that's extremely hard to do. For Suchi, she's driven by her determination to make it so that another family doesn't have to lose a loved one to sepsis. It took everything out of me to get here.

28:11And it's been so rewarding to know that, like, at least I'm doing my little bit to make a difference. A common thing I tell my team is people will ask me, well, why are you doing this? And I'm like, well, I need this to be in every hospital in America. The second it's in every hospital in America, I can take a vacation. And that'll feel so good. Jake Tapper, CNN, Baltimore, Maryland. Thanks to Jake Tapper for that fascinating report. Up next, a big win for Republican Senator Darlene Graham and President Trump who endorsed her. So what's the argument now from Republicans who did not? I'll ask one after the break.

28:56In our world lead, U.S. officials say they exposed and disrupted a major Chinese cyber espionage campaign. Chinese hackers infiltrated the U.S. military, hospitals, power companies and federal agencies, including NASA, the Federal Reserve and the Departments of Justice and Energy and even the Senate. The Justice Department says hackers hid behind a Chinese tech firm to cover their tracks, infecting thousands of devices connected to Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. Joining us now is Democratic Senator Chris Coons from Delaware. He's on the Foreign Relations, Appropriations and Judiciary Committee. Senator, good to have you on.

29:34This is quite alarming, and an analyst tells CNN that he guarantees China will try to hack U.S. agencies or businesses again. is the U.S. behind the eight ball on cybersecurity? Yes, we need to be doing more to invest in protecting our national infrastructure. And frankly, while alarming, this is in no way surprising. China has over and over infiltrated our core infrastructure. There was a major attack months ago now that's known under the name Salt Typhoon, through which they got into most of the core of our telecommunication systems. And this latest attack is just another example of how the Chinese Communist Party, the People's Liberation Army, and the PRC government is over and over attempting to infiltrate our systems, sometimes successfully.

30:29And the hack, as I noted, apparently targeted the U.S. Senate as well. Has the Justice Department contacted you or your office with steps to secure your own cyber operations? No, they have not, at least not that I'm aware of. And you would think I'd be aware of that. I do regularly get phishing attacks, texts or emails that seem to be from friends of mine, but aren't, that are from an area code similar to my hometown, that are from an email that seems like it's a bank I know or a friend of mine. But frankly, I think millions of Americans face similar attacks every day. We need to be on the cutting edge of protecting our nation from these and other attacks.

31:13And frankly, with our president and our national security leadership distracted by the war of choice that they've launched against Iran six months ago, I suspect they see us as a more easy target now. So it's important that we focus on our most significant adversary in the world, which is the PRC. And I would certainly expect that President Trump, as he is seeking a meeting with Xi Jinping, raises this issue, pushes back on it, and cautions Xi Jinping, the leader of China, that they need to stop these relentless attacks on the United States. So you don't know if you've been attacked at all? I don't.

31:56I haven't received any notice personally, directly, or that I'm aware of to my office. Well, hopefully someone will be in touch with you soon. I want to turn to the Department of Defense because I know you and your colleague, Senator Patty Murray, sent a letter to Secretary Pete Hegseth and Acting Navy Secretary Hong Kao urging transparency and an investigation into the USS Lincoln, the USS Ford and the USS Benfold deployments. The Benfold experienced a previously undisclosed days-long power outage. Your deadline for answers is September 1st. Have you heard anything back on this issue? I have not, and frankly, I'm not surprised.

32:37Secretary Hegseth and the leadership of the department have not been particularly responsive to a number of my requests for them to be transparent about the operational issues that the Pentagon and our armed forces are having under his leadership. As many of your viewers know, the sailors of the USS Lincoln have gone more than eight months without any port leave, and their parents and family members complained publicly about sailors on that aircraft carrier attempting to leap off because the conditions were so bad. And as you just mentioned, there are other press accounts of a loss of power on the South China Sea and other conditions on the other aircraft carrier that I think deserve a prompt and full airing so that the families and loved ones of those who are serving our nation in our armed forces, in this case in our Navy, know that we are working together to provide them the support, the resources and the conditions they need to serve admirably and well in defense of our nation.

33:43Senator Chris Coons, keep us posted if you hear from the DOJ or the Defense Department on both issues we just discussed. Thank you. Well, now to our politics lead. A significant win for President Trump and his endorsement power out of South Carolina's Republican Senate runoff. Senator Darlene Graham securing the nomination, defeating Congressman Ralph Norman by more than 18 ,000 votes. The sister of the late Senator Lindsey Graham will now face a Democratic nominee, Dr. Annie Andrews in November. Joining us now is a former Republican candidate in this race, former Congressman and Governor of South Carolina, Mark Sanford.

34:20Thanks for joining us. So you endorsed Graham's opponent, Ralph Norman, just days before this runoff. Will you now throw your support behind Senator Darlene Graham since she's won? Yeah, I mean, all of us signed a pledge in getting into the race that we would support whoever the eventual Republican nominee turned out to be. So I'll certainly honor my pledge. But I think it's a decidedly weird race, the likes of which I've never seen during my time in politics in South Carolina. How so? Other than the fact that sadly her brother died unexpectedly. No, Lindsay was a friend. I've known him for years.

34:59We started in politics together. That part's tragic. But I just think that it was sort of a barometer on two fronts, both of which are unsettling. One was, in every other race I've been around, you have an agenda. I'm running for these three reasons, or these two reasons, or this is the bee in my bonnet that really bothers me. And you didn't hear that in this race. It was just absolute silence on that front, other than that she would, again, be an ally of the presidents. The other part I think is unsettling is what you You see, I guess, with all these midterm turnouts and in special elections, which is a very low turnout.

35:39And the fact that, you know, roughly 10 percent or so of all the voter pool out there turns out whether that is in New York City was a mayor or whether it's here in South Carolina. I think it leads to basically saying something about the populace, which is a lot of people are so sort of downtrodden and turned out from politics that they say, I can't make a difference. I'm not going to bother voting. And so we end up with some, again, unusual situations. Well, in her victory speech last night, Graham thanked one particular person. Take a listen. I want to thank President Trump for all of his support and his endorsement.

36:20Our victory would not have been possible without you. And we are truly grateful.

36:28South Carolina is truly Trump country. Now, as we've noted, Graham did defeat Ralph Norman by more than 18 ,000 votes. But is she right? Is South Carolina right now truly Trump country? And is he the reason she won? I think she's definitely the reason that she won. He's definitely the reason that she won. I mean, he did something very unusual for him, which is to unload$800 ,000 in this race. There were roughly about$6 million worth of different special interest groups honing in on this race and spending a lot of money. So it was a well-spent and well-contested race. And yeah, I mean, there's no way that you would have made it without him.

37:18Are we Trump territory? I mean, as it relates to this race, yes, absolutely. But I think that the bigger point is the one I made earlier, which is most people just feel that Washington does not have the answers and they've given up. And so you look at the crisis of affordability, a young person's ability to buy a home or put gas in the car or food on the table. A lot of people are just saying, you know, I give up. And I find that very, very unsettling in terms of our Democratic traditions and process. Do you think that applies, that sentiment applies to both Republicans and Democrats? Does that sentiment favor Democrats or the Democrat in this race in the general election?

38:02I don't know. I mean, it's a decidedly red state that I live in and call home. So I don't think it favors the Democrat in this instance. I just think it's an observation of how I think we end up from away from where the sort of vast majority of folks are, whether that's, again, with the mayor in New York or in this case with sort of an unusual election. I mean, whether you like Ralph or not, he absolutely had the normal conservative credentials that typically in the past have mattered in a Republican primary. That ultimately did not prevail in this instance. Former South Carolina Congressman and Governor Mark Sanford, thank you for the time.

38:49Ahead, Ben Sass and his terminal cancer diagnosis. What the former senator recently told Jake Tapper about an experimental drug that is now FDA approved.

39:08And the health lead, the FDA approving what some call a miracle drug for adults with metastatic pancreatic cancer. It's made by Revolution Medicine and comes in a once daily pill form. It's the same drug former U.S. Senator Ben Sasse used in its clinical trial. Sasse recently spoke with Jake Tapper about how it works. This rock star researcher who was one of the co-founders of Revolutions Medicine had the idea that maybe you find a way to take molecular glue and glue your chaperone molecule to the pancreatic cancer and you create a crevice and you lock the drug in there. and then they experimented with 500 molecules and they found one, this diraxin or acid drug.

39:54And all of a sudden, pancreatic cancer is a little bit responsive. The drug you're taking, it's essentially poisoning the cancer in you? And so over the course of the five months I've been on this drug, my tumors have shrunk by 80%. Wow. Now, this is great news, but not ultimate news because tumors find a way to work their way around chemo over time. The American Cancer Society puts a survival rate for pancreatic cancer at just 13%, one of the lowest among major cancers.

40:29All right, welcome to The Lead. I'm Biana Golodryga. This hour, unbelievable scenes of destruction after a massive wall of water crashed into parts of Nepal. Villages reduced to a pile of mud. More than 150 killed, hundreds of others, including 47 Americans, are still missing. What we've learned about the cause of this catastrophe and the rescue efforts ongoing tonight. Plus, major changes coming soon to Instagram and Facebook after Meta agreed to an$18 billion settlement. The deal ending a legal battle over claims the social media platforms harmed the mental health of children and teens. We'll walk you through the changes Meta agreed to make.

41:10Also, the tributes from around the world, from every walk of life, from every political party, showing just how much Dolly Parton transcended music. We're reflecting on that legacy with a musician who had the honor of taking the stage with her. Ahead, and also a new phase in the confusing legal battle over President Trump's efforts to limit mail-in voting. We're just over two months away from the midterm, so how soon could this get resolved? I'll ask the New York Attorney General.

41:45I'm Viana Goldriga in for Jake Tapper. The lead tonight, critical search and rescue efforts are underway tonight in Nepal after devastating flash floods and mudslides along the border of China. Hundreds of tourists in Nepal, including nearly 50 Americans, are missing. More than 150 are confirmed dead. Rescue teams across the region are struggling through debris, rain and mud to try to reach those still stranded. In Nepal, entire bridges were swept away and villages were submerged when the initial surge of floodwater began. And in China, an intense mudslide engulfed the port that connects the border nations.

42:23CNN's Will Ripley is following the latest from Taiwan and CNN's Jennifer Hansler is at the State Department for us. Will, what can you tell us this hour about the ongoing rescue efforts? Well, they're certainly trying as best they can as daylight comes back to this region to find people. The difficulty, of course, is that a lot of these areas are incredibly remote. You're talking about the Himalayas, difficult to access even in normal weather, not to mention the fact that so many of the roads have been destroyed. There was a helicopter pilot flying over when this disaster hit, this massive flooding, estimating that the waves were possibly 15 to 20 feet high.

43:01But if you look at the video and you look at the way that buildings were enveloped, and we are learning that the river, the Treschuli River, essentially rose about 30 feet in 30 minutes, and then all of the debris and the rock and the mud was accumulating as the water was making this ferocious path, cutting through the valley, cutting right through villages, cutting through the border crossing that had just been rebuilt after the 2015 earthquake, only has been open to passengers just the last three years or so. That was a concrete building that was designed to withstand earthquakes, and yet you saw it was just enveloped by the waves there.

43:34Some of the most dramatic footage of a natural disaster probably that we've ever seen. This is not a typical monsoon flood, which is common in this area. The monsoon flood would happen obviously because of rain, but there was no rainfall in the area. And so what scientists have been doing is looking upstream at what the potential cause could be. And it seems as if the consensus is now that this may have been a piece of a glacier that broke off. It was described as a rock and ice avalanche that jammed a river and caused the water to accumulate. There was also a 4.4 magnitude earthquake detected nearby.

44:05So they're trying to figure out if there's some sort of a link. What would have caused the water to dislodge, that avalanche of ice and rock to dislodge? And then all of that built up water just making its violent path, that chain reaction, taking the river and basically with the level so dramatically high that you just saw the speed at which it was moving. Cars were tossed around, power lines snapped apart, buildings either partially submerged or in some cases just they fell apart altogether in the force of this. And of course, making this even more horrific is the fact that this is a very popular route for both Hindus, Hindu pilgrims and also tourists, especially this time of year.

44:42And that's why you have a lot of folks on the ground fearful that this number of hundreds missing right now is actually an optimistic number. and they're afraid that the number could go much higher than that, including dozens of Americans, people from all over the world who were in this beautiful area during a very popular season to visit when this horrific, really there are no words to describe how bad this disaster was when it hit. I've never seen video like this. Looks like something out of a terrible sci-fi film. Jennifer, how are U.S. officials responding to the crisis, especially in trying to determine the fate of those dozens of missing Americans.

45:18Well, Biana, that is, of course, always the key challenge here when it comes to embassy officials, State Department officials, assisting those Americans who are affected by this horrific natural disaster. Now, the State Department right now is only confirming that they are aware of Americans who have been impacted. A Nepal tourist official told the Associated Press that they're aware of at least 47 Americans who were impacted by this, who are missing, that number is likely to rise. Some of the challenge here is that Americans are not required to identify when they go abroad. They're not required to register with the U.S.

45:56State Department. So they don't have necessarily a fulsome list of the people who were in this area. And they are asking Americans who are there to do so. We heard from a State Department official earlier today that they are They're also working with local tourist groups and local authorities to both provide assistance and also help identify Americans who may be missing, injured, or perhaps dead in this awful disaster. The other key element that U.S. officials are working on right now is potentially providing humanitarian assistance. We know that the State Department is in touch with the Nepalese government.

46:29Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that they stand ready to provide that humanitarian assistance. Oftentimes what we will see in these disasters is the State Department dispatching was called a Disaster Assistance Response Team. This is a group that have specialized in these disasters to help with search and recovery in this issue. Biana? All right, Jennifer Hansler and CNN's Will Ripley, you'll stay on the story for us. Thank you. I want to bring in Allison Chinchar in the CNN Weather Center. So Allison, walk us through what could have caused this and how did no one see this coming? Yeah, so what was initially thought was that this was actually triggered by an earthquake.

47:07Here you can see that dot, but now what the U.S. Geological Survey is saying is that's not the case. This was a landslide, a very powerful landslide that was so powerful it actually triggered and measured a 5.2 tremor on the seismograph machines. Now to kind of put this in perspective to show you the area where this is taking place, it's in the Himalayan region where that landslide took place. And we've got the little marker here so you can kind of see where that starting point was. We zoom in to give you a little bit better perspective. Now, if the landslide initiated in this general region, everything surrounding it would fall down with it.

47:41So you're going to have ice, you're going to have water, you're going to have rocks, even some boulders that comes down with it down into the valley below. This is the glacier tongue that then flows down into the river valley. And to kind of show you some before and after images of what we're talking about here, this is image taken yesterday. Now, it's flipped upside down. So this is the same glacier tongue we just showed you, but focus here on the green area. Now we fast forward to today and all of that green changes to brown, just showing all of that debris flow of where everything went as that landslide continued down along the valley floor.

48:14And it wasn't just in one place. Again, you kind of show this area, but then we widen out to kind of show you where it goes from there. It continues to follow down through the river valley and into this particular area where we have several buildings here. Now, everything would have flowed down in this direction before reaching those buildings. And the video here clearly shows all of that debris from that landslide just sliding into that area, just demolishing all of those buildings that were in that general region. But this isn't the only spot. Again, that water, that debris, everything along with it is just going to continue to go down through the valley, even more so where you actually then end up having some villages, some towns that were impacted.

48:55So we zoom in here to kind of give you a general layout of these neighboring towns that are here. We zoom in a little bit farther north, and you can start to see this bridge right through here, okay? Now we're going to show you some video of that bridge. There is that wall of water and debris just racing down here, flowing not just through where normal water would go, but also into the surrounding buildings, the streets, everything that's there. And it is such an immense amount of water and debris that comes through. At some point, this bridge eventually just gives way. It's just simply too much of a force for it to be able to hold steady enough.

49:31And you'll see it here. It's just about to go. And then it will also follow along with all of the rest of the debris that's being pushed down by this immense flow. It also continues to spread into there. You can see it kind of go there. It spreads into a lot of these buildings. So those buildings also start to sustain some damage as well. So, again, just kind of giving you that overall scope, this was not just one particular area that was hit. It was multiple areas that were hit, and that's why we're seeing so many of these videos come out. Just terrifying. Thanks for explaining it to us, CNN's Allison Chinchar.

50:02Well, the size of the memorial is growing at the Dolly Parton statue in her hometown of Sevierville, Tennessee, where crowds are paying their respects to the country music icon and philanthropist. Next, a musician who shared the stage with Dolly Parton joins me to share his stories about working with her. In our pop culture lead today, musicians who worked with the late Dolly Parton are praising her impeccable vocals and musical instincts. The country music icon and philanthropist died Tuesday at the age of 80 after a short battle with cancer. So what was it like to work with Dolly Parton? Chris Thiele joins me now.

50:43He's a Grammy Award winning mandolin player and singer-songwriter, founding member of the bands Nickel Creek and Punch Brothers. He played mandolin for Dolly Parton for a couple of years. Chris, literally you pulled yourself away from practice and rehearsal to talk to us, so I really appreciate it. Tell us what it was like being in Dolly Parton's musical orbit and how you're feeling as you grapple with her loss today. It was like being around the sun. she shined brighter than anyone I've ever been around and was just generosity incarnate the way that she would make you feel as a musician you put you instantly at ease she would she would walk into the room and and really see everyone who was there and would treat would treat you like you were Kenny Rogers.

51:38It was majestic to behold. And then what she would bring out of you just musically. So she's Dolly. And we all know that. But as a musician, I think one of the things that's rippling through my community is her sheer brilliance as an artist. And that was was resonating through every bar of music that she ever made. And so all of us were elevated in her presence. It was remarkable. Yeah, she made it seem so easy, but you're right. I mean, she was a musical genius, having written over 3 ,000 songs. And you told a great story on social media while you were playing for Dolly. You asked her if she would sit in with you for a song on your solo show.

52:27and she said yes and you played and sang Jackson together. You happened to find this old clip of it. Let's watch a little bit. Well, we got married in a fever Hotter than a peppered frown We've been talking about I mean, treasure that video forever. How surreal was that moment? well what was crazy is that she she would always be so general i mean be honest she made us chicken and dumplings in the studio she was always there before we got there she was there after we left she would take a genuine interest in all of our all of our lives and i mean i was this 19 20 year old kid uh no one knew who i was and people still don't and dolly treated again treated you like you were just the only person that she ever wanted to hang out with.

53:20And I remember her saying, now, Chris, if you ever need anything, you just ask. And I did Wild Hair. It was one of my first solo shows for 150 people. You know, she plays for 25 ,000 people. And she said, yeah, absolutely. Let's work something up. And I remember, so her manager kind of gave me the high sign. All right, She's at the back door right now. So introduce her. I transitioned, like improvised from the middle of the song I was in to, y 'all, I can't believe I get to say this, but please make welcome Dolly Parton. And on she comes. And off we go. And, I mean, these 150 people, they lost their minds, of course.

54:07And Dolly, the brilliant, the humor. I mean, she did like a tight five in between every song. It was unbelievable. And I actually learned later that a lot of people didn't even really believe it was her. They thought it was just maybe the best Dolly impersonator they'd ever seen in their lives. I can't believe that video turned up. I didn't know anyone had gotten it. Well, keep it. Keep it in a lockbox because you are very, very lucky to have had that opportunity to share a stage with her. And when we see videos of Dolly Parton singing live, I mean, going back to the earlier point of her making it seem so easy, but she had such a natural presence.

54:44and precision as well. How would you describe the singularity of her voice? Well, you hear the 100 % commitment to every single syllable of every single word. The belief that she had in the urgency of her message and the utility of her message is unlike anything I've ever encountered in a musician before. I think she knew that she was capable of making music that would make people feel better about being human. And I know all of us on stage felt it. And I know all of us in the audience felt it. I've been on both sides of it. And now I feel like even though, of course, there's this intense sense of loss, there's also this intense sense of awe in the beauty that one of our fellow human beings was capable of not only making, but sharing in such a meaningful way with all of us.

55:55It's like sharing it to the extent that we feel like it's ours. And that now we get to feel, we get to share it with other people. I feel like that's, her message is a message that can give us all the fuel we need to get out there and make a difference, bring a little beauty into the world. You shared a stage with her and she made you chicken and dumplings. You're going to have to share that experience with us later at some point. Chris Thiele, thank you so much. Really appreciate it. Oh, it's my pleasure. Love you, Dolly. Thank you. We all do. All right. Well, Canada fires back announcing significant new tariffs on hundreds of U.S.

56:32goods. We're breaking down how this growing trade war could impact the prices that you and your family are paying.

56:45In our money lead, Americans could start feeling even more financial pay next month. Canada is hitting back at the Trump administration with tariffs ranging from 15 % to 50 % on over 700 American goods in an effort to match U.S. tariffs dollar for dollar, notably doubling its duties on U.S. steel and aluminum to 50 % set to take effect September 8th. The mayor of Windsor, Ontario, Drew Dilkens, joins us now. We should note Windsor is just over the border from Detroit and known as the automotive capital of Canada. Mayor Dilkens, welcome to the program. Thanks for joining us. So as I noted, the U.S.

57:22steel and aluminum tariffs are already in effect. Now Canada's retaliatory tariffs will take effect early next month. Can Windsor's manufacturing sector survive those? and then the 50 % tariffs on Canadian cars and auto parts set to take effect January 1st? Well, we are so tightly integrated. I don't think any of us can survive this. This will be bad for business on the Canadian side of the border, but it will be equally bad in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, and beyond. And I think smart, sensible minds have to prevail here. We have to get back to the table and find a resolution that gets us to a solution on this comprehensive trade agreement that we have called USMCA.

58:01And how do we do that? Well, listen, I think we have so deeply, we have such a deeply integrated economy, especially in the auto industry and the parts sector. It is unfathomable to believe that we're ever going to get to a point where we're going to apply 50 % tariffs. And if that happens, Biana, I'm telling you, 10 ,000 people will be out of work in Michigan within a week. 10 ,000 people will be out of work in Ontario within a week as the OEM simply idle production and send people home because the price of the vehicles will not be affordable to anybody in the United States or Canada. And so we have to get people back to the table and recognize first principles.

58:37We have a comprehensive trade relationship called USMCA that provides for duty-free and tariff-free trade for goods produced on our continent. Donald Trump came in in his second term and he started dismantling that piece by piece, hiding off steel, aluminum, auto, lumber, and many other things. And so he has done this unilaterally. We're in this position where now Canada is really left with no other reasonable alternative to send a signal back to the United States saying we can't tolerate this behavior. I want to read a headline for you that caught my attention from The Economist. And it's this.

59:12Mark Carney must be aware of an all-out trade war. And it goes on to point out, quote, The trouble is that America's economy is 13 times larger than Canada's and far better equipped to cope. Mr. Carney should look for ways to walk back his retaliatory tariffs. Do you agree with that assessment? He obviously is an expert in the field of economics. Do you think that America is too big for Canada to take on? Well, listen, there's no doubt your economy is far larger than I. You're 10 times the size of Canada. None of us want to be here. And we have to find a sensible way back to the table that de-escalates some of the rhetoric that has been thrown back and forth across the border in the last week or so.

59:58But there also has to be a strong reflection, Biana, that you can't have a trade agreement that only works for one party. We have built a tightly integrated supply chain, especially on the auto side, that, you know, one has often said that it is analogous to unscrambling an egg. if you're trying to decouple the integration that we've built between the United States, Canada, and of course Mexico through NAFTA and USMCA. And so we have to find a way to make this make sense because a trade war makes no sense for Canada, but it doesn't make any sense for the United States as well. Yeah, hurting consumers in both countries.

1:00:32Windsor, Ontario Mayor Drew Dilkins, thank you for the time. Thank you. Well, Meta is promising changes to Facebook and Instagram after settling a landmark lawsuit for$18 billion. We'll explain up next.

1:00:52In our politics lead, new developments in the legal fight over mail-in voting just weeks before the midterm elections. 24 states and the District of Columbia today sued the U.S. Postal Service over new rules that would give the agency a bigger role in handling mail-in ballots. The states say the new rules go too far, arguing the Postal Service should not have that much control over how states run their elections. New York Attorney General Letitia James is helping lead that coalition, and she joins us now. Attorney General James, thanks for joining us. So what is your biggest concern about how these rules could affect the midterm elections?

1:01:29Because the United States Postal Service and the president of these United States have played no role in elections. The Constitution is clear. It belongs to the states. And the U.S. postal system cannot usurp the power of the states. And they cannot frustrate our mail-in ballot procedure. In addition to that, the time frame is just too short to mail out millions of ballots, to change the ballot, to design an envelope. It is virtually impossible. It will cost states millions and millions of dollars. But the bottom line is this. States under our Constitution have control over the time, place and manner of elections.

1:02:11And that's what it should be. And so this is unconstitutional. And that's why we filed a lawsuit today. And that's why we are seeking a temporary restraining order against this rule. So what would you like to see happen next? What I would like to see next is a TRO issued, and I would like to see that the power that belongs to the states remain in the states. As Attorney General, all 24 of us are basically representing the interests of our respective states, and that's the way that it should be. This is nothing more than an attempt to basically frustrate and to suppress the right to vote. When you don't have anything to run on, you must cheat, and that's what this is.

1:02:48And so it's really critically important that individuals understand that the right to vote belongs to the state. And as state attorneys general, we are doing our job as always. And in the past, in all of the cases that we have filed against this administration, against their illegal, unconstitutional executive orders, we have won over 85 percent of our cases. And I'm confident that we will win this one as well. Well, you know, the Supreme Court in their decision did not rule on the legality of this executive order, but at least said thus far no damage had been done. What damage do you think has been done?

1:03:25Because all of the damage that I just laid out to you, it's also important to understand that the United States Supreme Court just focused, again, on procedural grounds. It was not the merits of the case. And so despite the dicta, at the end of the day, it's the Constitution that rules the day. And the Constitution clearly speaks to states' rights. And that should not be usurped by the United States Postal Service and or this administration. The power on elections belongs to states. It's clear, it's written, it's black letter law, and that is what we should abide by in this country. And so we will not allow this president or the United States Postal Service to usurp or frustrate our rights.

1:04:12And we know millions of Americans, Democrats, Republicans, including the president, vote by mail. I want to turn to the other major development today. That is the largest big tech settlement in history, Meta announcing an$18 billion settlement that could fundamentally change the way children use social media. As part of this settlement, Meta agreed to make changes to its platform, such as establishing daily time limits for teen users. I'm a mother of teens. You joined 32 states to hold the parent company of Facebook and Instagram accountable. Do you think that these changes will better protect young people compared to features that had been rolled out in the past?

1:04:54Yes. The business model of Meta is as follows. One, hook children. Two, let them stay on the platform as long as possible. Three, harvest their data. And four, not tell anyone about it. It's important that individuals understand this is transformational, and this will basically change the relationship between children and social media platforms. There has been stories and there have been studies and internal studies by Meta, which link the mental health crisis that young people are experiencing now to social media. and what we are attempting to do, and we have been successful, and that is addressing the anxiety, the mental health crisis, the depression, and the self-harm that children are engaging in at this point in time with limitations on the amount of time that they will be on the social media platform and provide pauses and limit their ability to have predators focus on children and also eliminate the ability of children to have inappropriate content.

1:06:05And so this wonderful and basically extraordinary settlement is similar to the tobacco settlement, again, where you have major companies which unfortunately violate consumer protection laws and privacy laws as well. And as one of the attorneys general, all 24 of us stood up in a bipartisan fashion and decided to challenge these social media companies and their platforms on behalf of children in these United States. And I am so happy that this will address some of the social ills that we are seeing in our society. New York Attorney General Letitia James, thank you for the time. Well, President Trump appears to have a new strategy for the midterms, and it involves running campaign ads about someone not on the ballot.

1:06:57We'll explain who up next.

1:07:05In our politics lead, with less than 70 days until the midterm elections, President Trump doesn't appear to be worried about Democrats using ads attacking his record. In fact, Trump reportedly is leaning into it. According to The Atlantic, Trump is planning an ad blitz touting his accomplishments. The Atlantic writing, quote, Trump wanted what one person described to us as environmental lift ads, commercials that would focus on nationalizing the midterms broadly around his victories. And he suggested that the ad makers mine his own on-camera statements as building blocks. All right. The panel joins me now to discuss.

1:07:42Mike, do you believe the strategy will be effective or are you concerned that it could actually hurt Republicans? Well, I think anytime you can spend hundreds of millions of dollars trying to lift your image, that's a good thing for the candidates and for the president. And his numbers are going to be determinative of many of these elections. But at the same time, he's been in the national spotlight for 10 years, certainly as a president or presidential candidate and decades before that as a celebrity. I don't know any amount of money that could really change somebody's opinion about Donald Trump right now.

1:08:09Now, you either you have an opinion about Donald Trump, good or bad at this point. I'm not sure that commercials will make a huge difference. And what exactly would they be touting? Well, I think you would want to put it. Well, I think they would want to put a good spin on the economic record and they'll obviously try to place blame. And I think for them, they're going to try to make contrast between what where Donald Trump is trying to take the country, whether or not you agree with it or not, and with the extreme left of the Democratic Party. And that's the contrast I think many Republicans would be smart to make.

1:08:35Christine, John, you have thoughts. Let's start with you, Christine. Bring it on. Bring it on. I love the idea of a guy who has the worst poll numbers, really, of any modern-day president, spending hundreds of millions of dollars saying how great he is. It's like he looked at us Democrats, you know, from two and a half years ago, three years ago, where we were saying, no, things aren't that bad. You really feel like you don't have any money, but you do. It's okay. But that's what I'm going to do. I'm going to tell everybody the economy's great when they can't afford tomatoes. Inflation's high.

1:09:10And now we're fighting with tariffs on Canada. Bring it on. And the tariff fight with Canada is only growing here. So what do you make of it? It's a new kind of stupid which will supercharge all the cost problems he's dealing with. I mean, this is a guy who won the last election by talking about affordability, who claimed in that confidence man way, when I'm elected on day one, we're going to get rid of inflation and prices are going to go down. And instead, prices are going up. And that's one reason why he's at 25 percent among independents. So it is it is clearly once again all about him and his ego, but it does deep damage to the party he allegedly leads.

1:09:48Well, he may be emboldened by a victory in South Carolina here, fresh off her runoff victory in South Carolina. Republican Senator Darlene Graham is getting mocked for her argument against her Democratic opponent's support of what she says is government-run health care. Take a listen. Gun control, government-run health care, abortion until the moment of birth. Annie Andrews backs them all. I have a different background and vision for our state. I'm a hard worker with a servant's heart. My parents worked long, hard hours to make ends meet. We didn't take vacations. If they were sick, they had to get up and go to work because the doors weren't open.

1:10:33We weren't making money. My mother passed away when I was 11 and my father just over a year later. So, Mike, she's made clear she's a novice here in terms of politics, but she knows and cares about local constituents and the issues that they're facing and will learn on the job. Was that convincing? Well, I think many people will feel bad about her. I think many are bad about that story. I think people want to jump on it. But like attacking someone who just talked about losing their parents at 11 and 12 could backfire politically as well. Now, don't get me wrong. This is a very tough place to learn on the job.

1:11:08U.S. Senate races now are all national races. And to go into the spotlight, especially for her brother, who is a nationally known figure, is very, very difficult place to learn on the job. It reminds me of, you know, when Governor Palin became vice presidential candidate, that spotlight gets hot very, very fast. And so she's about to learn that. She had very difficult debate. No one has accused her of being the best candidate in America right now. But it's a good it's a good state for Republicans and she should be victorious. So Christine Graham's opponent, Dr. Annie Andrews, responded to Graham's health care remarks on CNN earlier today.

1:11:38Here's what she said. What she said there was that her health care plan is you should work hard until you die. I believe that Darlene's parents deserved better. I believe that health care is a human right, that we must shift America's profit-motivated health care system to a patient-centered health care system that actually meets the needs of everyone in this country. So she went on to challenge Graham to three televised debates. I mean, this is a deep red state, Christine, at the end of the day. Does she stand a chance? I mean, I think it's a very much uphill battle for her. There's no question about that, but good for her for being aggressive and raising debates, which we know that Ms.

1:12:20Graham is not very good at. The story she tells, the reality of what happened to her parents, what happened to her and her late brother, is tragic. I lost my mother when I was a teenager. It devastates you, particularly as a girl. But then to tell us how they had to work basically till they were so, so sick that they passed away or they just couldn't work anymore. That's a tragedy, too. And I just don't understand the thought process of that leading somebody to say that we can't do more about health care, that we don't need to make a change. What happened to them was terrible. And former Governor Sanford was on with me in the last hour, and he endorsed her opponent but said he would campaign for her.

1:13:10But his concern was low turnout. Mark Sanford endorsed the Democrat, did you say? No, no, no. He did not endorse Graham initially, right? He endorsed her opponent. Yes, correct. Or Ralph Northam. Yes. But now he said that he would support Graham. But he's very concerned about turnout. Yeah, look, I think that Darlene Graham benefited from Trump, the last name, but she doesn't inspire a lot of confidence. I thought Martha would actually do better than he did. I think two things there. Look, there's a lot of compassion about they're small business owners for parents when they died so long ago. And when you're a small business owner, you got to get up when you're sick and do the work.

1:13:46That's a work ethic point. There should be compassion for them. But the fact that a decade and a half after demonizing Obamacare, the Republicans still don't have a proactive healthcare message. when 69 % of Americans say health care costs are one of the top issues for them in this election because it's a major driver of inflation and fear that if you get sick, you could go bankrupt as a family. In the case of a serious illness, the Republicans still don't have an answer is malpractice in its own way. So let me ask another issue that some Republicans would say is malpractice for the president to continue to pursue.

1:14:20And yet he is. His feud with the Kennedy Center isn't going anywhere. now as administration is threatening to demolish the building if it's not allowed to proceed with its extensive renovations. Is this something the president should be focused on right now? No, it's not. I mean, all the talk of monuments and decorations and renaming things is not what the American people are looking at right now. They care about affordability and prices, and that's where the focus should be. This is mafia boss behavior, right? If you don't do what I say, I'm going to tear down the building that's in a memorial.

1:14:47And he tore down the East Wing. So, I mean, you know, there are so, they need to be called out and stood up to. They can't tear down buildings that belong to the people, not to them. And we should build back the East Wing just as it was, not build the ballroom. Absolutely. All right. On that note, we'll leave it there. Thank you, panel. And up next, my exclusive interview with a former Israeli hostage held by Hamas in Gaza. Evitar David had spent much of the last year recovering from the horrors inflicted by the terror group. But now he's on a mission to make sure the world remembers what happened.

1:15:20Bring you his story up next.

1:15:29In our world lead, a CNN exclusive. In his first international interview, we're hearing from Evyatar David, the former Israeli hostage seen around the world in shocking images that showed him severely emaciated and being forced to dig his own grave. David spent more than two years in Hamas captivity before being released as part of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement last year. In the months since, David has been overcoming unimaginable trauma. And he joined me from his home just outside of Tel Aviv earlier this week. He speaks about what he endured and shares an extraordinary message of resilience.

1:16:06It's an image that shocked the world. the emaciated figure of Evyatar David in a Gaza tunnel. After being held by Hamas for more than two years, Evyatar was finally released last October, back into the arms of his family. Now, nearly a year later, in his first international interview, Evyatar, who has made a remarkable physical recovery, says he's still dealing with the mental toll. One hour I can be fine and happy, and the second one I can remember is something from captivity and get flashbacks and also I can wake up at night from nightmares. Evyatar was kidnapped from the Nova Music Festival on October 7th, 2023 and dragged into Gaza.

1:16:55He was held alongside his best friend since childhood, Guy Gilboa Dalal, for much of his captivity. In a propaganda video released in August 2025, Evyatar was forced by his Hamas captors to list the days he went without food, his skeletal body looking close to death. We were in extreme starvation. Everything I was saying there and doing, they tell me what to do. But of course, how you can see my body, it's totally true. I couldn't, I could barely move, could barely do anything. In an act of horrifying psychological torture, Evyatar was also forced to dig his own grave. When I tried to dig the grave, just to hold the shovel, it was almost impossible.

1:17:50Probably the hardest physical thing I ever did. It took me like 50 meters walk, and for me I almost collapsed. It was almost impossible for me to do. Evyatar says his captors would sometimes eat in front of him, another kind of torment. I can hear them laughing and eating cakes and drinking tea. Like there is no person that walks like next to them and looks like a skeleton. But this is how they are, they are very cruel. Since those scenes of jubilation, when, after 738 days, he and Guy became some of the last hostages to be released from Gaza, Evyatar and other survivors say they haven't had enough help from the government.

1:18:38His family and friends launched a crowdfunding campaign to help pay for his recovery. What could you tell this government or the next government, because there are elections just weeks away, about what they could do differently and better? We don't have enough help. This is why I do the campaign that my family and friends did for me, for raising money. And I hope the next government will do better. As for the broader situation between Israel and Hamas, Evyatar does not have high hopes for a resolution. The U.S.-backed Board of Peace announced in recent weeks that Hamas had agreed to disarm if Israel withdraws its troops from Gaza, a move which President Trump called historic, but which has so far been rejected by Israel.

1:19:30You spent over two years underground with some of these men, these terrorists. You know them in a way no negotiator ever will. Do you allow yourself to envision a Hamas-free Gaza and peace? No, I don't think it's possible because they're pure ideology. They just want the whole land. They don't really care about Gaza. I could see it in their eyes. It's the thing that they want the most. I never saw something like that. It's scary, really. For Evyatar, each celebration of life's milestones now represents victory. He recently attended fellow former hostage Elia Cohen's wedding. You know, they tried to take all of us and take our lives and ruin our family's life and everybody here's life.

1:20:25Eventually, they didn't manage to, like, ruin Elia and Ziv life. Eventually they got married under the chuppah and it's the biggest closure and victory. Evyatar and his brother will tour the United States in September, speaking about his captivity, something that he says helps in his recovery. All right, well, you can follow me on X and Instagram at Bianna Golodriga. You can follow the show on X and Instagram at The Lead. You ever miss an episode of The Lead, you can watch the show on the CNN app. Aaron Burnett Out Front starts right now.