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Military Analysts: Russian Forces still Retaining Momentum on Eastern Front Despite Ukrainian Incursion; Musk Blamed Technical Glitch on "Massive Attack"; Firefighters: Wildfire Near Athens "Improving"; Trump and Musk Praise Each Other During 2-Hour Interview; USA Appeal for Jordan Chiles to keep Bronze Medal Denied. Aired 9-9:45a ET

Aired August 13, 2024 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: Well, this is the scene near Athens where firefighters continue to fight against fast moving wildfires.

It's 04:00 p.m. in Greece, it's 02:00 p.m. here in London. I'm Becky Anderson, you're watching "Connect the World".

Also, over the next two hours, Ukrainian forces making gains on the battlefield in Russia, while Vladimir Putin vows strong retaliation. The

Middle East nervously awaits Israel-Hamas cease fire talks that are set to resume on Thursday, and Donald Trump sits down for a long and false hood

filled conversation with Elon Musk broadcast live on Musk's X platform.

Well, the stock market will open in New York about 30 minutes from now at 09:30 local time. This is the picture, as far as the futures are concerned,

indicating at least a stronger opening this Tuesday. More on that bottom of the hour for you. Well, our top story Vladimir Putin vows to carry out a

strong response to Ukrainian forces, who have carried out the biggest incursion into Russia since the start of the war in 2022.

Ukraine's forces control about 1000 square kilometers now of Russian territory in the southwestern Kursk Region, according to a Ukrainian

military chief. And their expanding incursion has forced Russian officials to urge even more residents today to evacuate southwest of Kursk.

Now this video just into CNN, appears to show how Ukrainian forces are making gains on the battlefield. It shows the Russian military walking past

a trail of dead bodies in the Kursk border region. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy calls the fighting quote, fair.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE: It is only fair to destroy Russian terrorists, where they are, where they launch their strikes from

Russian military air fields, Russian logistics, we see how useful this can be for bringing peace closer. Russia must be forced into peace if Putin

wants to continue waging war so badly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Putin accuses Ukraine of trying to de stabilize his country, and he says Russian forces have hit back militarily by deploying their troops

to quash the incursion and they are gaining, he says significant ground. Well CNN's Fred Pleitgen following the story for us from Berlin.

You been talking to your sources on the ground. Two things here. Russia has suggested a strong response. What might that look like, and when might we

see it?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the Ukrainians are expecting at any time. And quite frankly, I think a lot of

people in Ukraine, and certainly some of the sources that we've been speaking to, Becky, they're surprised that there hasn't been much more of a

tough response from the Russians coming already.

Essentially, what the Ukrainians are bracing for is some sort of gargantuan missile attack and rocket attack coming from the Russians. They believe

that the Russians might then target government buildings, possibly even in Kyiv, even more so than they have in the past.

There was one government official who said that he believes that this would put a big strain on Ukraine's air defenses. But the same time, the

Ukrainians believe that their air defenses would be able to handle this. Of course, over the past couple of weeks, we know that the Ukrainians have

been getting more munitions for their air defense systems, and there's also been more air defense systems pledged as well.

However, of course, there is still that situation on the battlefield where the Russians have also said that there is going to be a tough response to

that incursion and that the Russians are going to deploy more forces there, as you mentioned, to quash that incursion that's going on in the Kursk

district.

Last night, Vladimir Putin met with some of his security officials, and he certainly seemed extremely angry at the situation, and did say that the

Russians would, as he put it, squeeze the Ukrainians out. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VLADIMIR PUTIN, PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA: The main task is certainly before the Ministry of Defense to squeeze out, knock out to the enemy from our

territories, and together with the Border Guard service, ensure reliable protection of the state border.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PLEITGEN: And Becky, we've been taking a look at some of the things that the Russians have been publishing, specifically the Russian military. A lot

of it shows their forces attacking those Ukrainian troops on the ground in the course or less, their air force also at work as well.

But at the same time, it does appear as though the Ukrainians are, at least in some places, still making gains. We showed that map of an area near it,

almost the city, of course, where now the Russians are evacuating civilians from there as well.

[09:05:00]

So certainly, it seems as though the fighting is going on, and it also seems as though the Ukrainians still seemingly able to make some

territorial gain, Becky.

ANDERSON: Fred, is it clear at this point, 2.5 years into the war, whether Ukraine strategy at this point is to win this war or to force Russia to the

negotiating table on Kyiv's terms, as it were, and if so, when might that be?

PLEITGEN: Yeah, it's an extremely interesting and I think an extremely difficult question, because on the face of it, both sides are still

sticking by what they've said all along. The Ukrainians are saying they still want to liberate all their territory, including Crimea.

Vladimir Putin, again last night, said that the Russians want to achieve all of the aims of what they still call their special military operation,

which, of course, essentially amounts to a capitulation and a complete surrender of Ukraine, and Ukraine ceding some territory.

Nevertheless, what we're seeing on both sides is actually more talk about negotiations going on. We saw some of it from Volodymyr Zelenskyy in his

address last night, where he said that the Russians need to be forced to the negotiating table, if Vladimir Putin continues to not want to go to the

negotiating table.

Vladimir Putin, for his part, had said that he believes that one of the reasons why the Ukrainians are doing this offensive now into Russian

territory is to improve their position at the negotiating table. When that will be? Is a very difficult question, but certainly, the talk of some sort

of, at least negotiated cease fire seems to be gaining a certain amount of steam.

When that will be, how that will be on, whose terms that will be? A lot of that is still going to be decided on the battlefield, Becky.

ANDERSON: Good to have you, Fred. Thank you. Well, one of President Vladimir Putin's fiercest critics is speaking about his difficult time as a

Russian prisoner. Vladimir Kara-Murza told CNN's Erin Burnett that he thought he was being led to his execution before he was released from

prison earlier this month.

Now, he was part of the largest prisoner exchange between the U.S. and Russia since the Cold War.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: You talked about that, that you thought that you were never going to see them again. You thought you were going to die in

prison, and yet, here you are together. Have you even been able to process that, that you are here with her and your children?

VLADIMIR KARA-MURZA, RUSSIAN OPPOSITION POLITICIAN: No, frankly, I think it's a little bit too much and too quick for a human mind to process. Just

a little over two weeks ago, I was still sitting in my solitude confinement cell in a harsh regime prison colony in Siberia. And I was certain that I

was going to end my life in Putin's prison, and here I am now sitting with you in a studio in New York next to my wife.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: The British-Russian national had been in prison for over two years, including 11 months in solitary confinement, something he described

as psychological torture. This -- speaking out against Putin's war in Ukraine. Well as the Middle East nervously awaits Israel, and as cease fire

talks that are set to resume on Thursday, Iran is still threatening retaliation against Israel.

The foreign ministry today rejecting a joint statement from Britain, France and Germany, urging restraint, saying that Iran has a right to respond to

the assassination of this man, the Hamas political leader last month in Tehran. It remains unclear how the looming talks will impact Iran's

actions.

Well after initially expressing hesitancy, a source tells CNN, Hamas will send a delegation to the talks, mediated by Egypt and Qatar. Israel,

meantime, is making preparations for potential attacks by both Iran and its proxy in Lebanon, Hezbollah. Jeremy Diamond, connecting us from Haifa in

Northern Israel.

And looming cease fire talks, we don't know exactly where could be Qatar, could be Egypt. We are hearing from sources that Hamas will attend. At

least these talks are scheduled, of course, for Thursday. It is Tuesday today. The big question is whether or not those talks will impact Iran's

threat of retaliation against Israel for the assassination, of course, in Tehran of Ismail Haniyeh. Are things becoming any clearer at this point,

Jeremy?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think the next 48 hours are certainly going to give us a sense of whether we are headed for a

potential regional war or some kind of escalation in the region, or if perhaps we are headed for cease fire talks that could potentially see a

break through between Israel and Hamas after months and months of negotiations.

[09:10:00]

We know that those talks are scheduled for Thursday, but if an Iranian attack perhaps one accompanied by strikes by Hezbollah as well comes before

that date, then the very notion of those talks actually happening on Thursday could effectively be up ended, in particular, if these strikes are

significant enough that it escalates the situation even further, rather than something symbolic from Iran meant to respond but avoid further

regional escalation.

And it remains really unclear at this time exactly what that Iranian response will be, although it does appear that Iran is determined to carry

out its military response. The Iranian foreign ministry this morning effectively rejecting calls from several European countries, of which a

couple of whom spoke directly with the Iranian President yesterday for de- escalation.

These calls for restraint that these European countries have been making to allow room for this diplomacy, for the cease fire talks to take place on

Thursday, rather than responding Iran's, the spokesman for Iran's foreign ministry saying that Iran is, quote, firm and resolute in defending its

sovereignty.

And won't ask for permission from anyone to enforce that sovereignty, effectively hinting at a likely military response. Now we know that both

the U.S. and Israel seem to believe that, that Iranian response is imminent, but we don't know the exact timing of that and whether it will

come before those talks on Thursday.

That, of course, will be critical to seeing whether those talks actually happen, and whether then there can be some space for diplomacy or not.

ANDERSON: Meantime, we have seen Ben Gvir, who is a right-wing minister in Benjamin Netanyahu's government in Jerusalem today. Just explain, we're

looking at the pictures now, where was he? And why is this significant?

DIAMOND: Well, today is the Jewish holiday of Tisha B'Av. It is a day of mourning, and it is also one that commemorates the destruction of the first

and second holy temples in Jerusalem, and that is where the site of the Al- Aqsa Mosque compound is also known as the Temple Mount actually stands.

But for decades now, there has been a status quo agreement there to allow Muslims to go and pray there and to ban non-Muslims from praying at that

site. But today, the National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir went to this site accompanied by at least 2000 Jews, some of whom appear to be

praying at that site and saying that the policy is to, quote, allow prayer, according to Itamar Ben Gvir.

Now that obviously marks a significant breach of that status quo agreement. It was one that was met with swift condemnation, not only by the

Palestinian Authority, but also by the Jordanian government, which is involved in maintaining that status quo at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, and

also by the Israeli Prime Minister's Office.

The Israeli Prime Minister's Office, saying that the policy at the Temple Mount quote has not changed. It will remain what it has been for years now,

and arguing that Ben Gvir's visit was a quote deviation from the status quo. There's no question that Itamar Ben Gvir, who has done made similar

visits to this site in the past, knows exactly what he's doing, knows exactly how provocative a visit like this could be, and that is obviously

how it is being viewed in a region that is already very, very tense, Becky.

ANDERSON: Absolutely. Jeremy, thank you, and you can follow developments on the region in our "Meanwhile in the Middle East" newsletter. There is

extensive coverage of the Israel-Hamas war ahead of the looming cease fire talks and Iran's vow to retaliate against Israel.

You can access the newsletter and sign up by scanning the QR code on the bottom of your screen there. Just give you a second or so to do that. Well,

rife with insults and false claims, Donald Trump sat down for a roughly two-hour conversation with Elon Musk. Broadcast live on Musk's X platform.

Trump trying to re-energize his presidential campaign, touched on some campaign promises, including a vow, if elected, to carry out the largest

deportation ever in the United States and to disband the Education Department. The event started more than 40 minutes late due to technical

problems.

Musk said they were caused by an online attack, but overwhelmed the company's servers. Some analysts said it made X look bad.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARA FISCHER, CNN MEDIA ANALYST: It's an embarrassment for Musk. They're trying to make this the video platform of choice, but they can't get a live

stream up and running.

BRIAN STELTER, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT AT VANITY FAIR: This actually does show that streaming can struggle, especially when someone like Musk fired

most of the technical staffers at the company formerly known as Twitter, he kind of had this coming. Musk says he'd been testing the servers ahead of

time, trying to make sure this would work.

We'll find out later what actually went wrong here, but it is embarrassing for Trump, because every day he's been attempting a reset lately to try to

take on Harris.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[09:15:00]

ANDERSON: Right, well, CNN's Alayna Treene joining us now with more from Washington and you sat through that two-hours overall, as I did, his

strategy appeared to be to attack Kamala Harris and Joe Biden. But what do you believe we found out about Trump's actual policies?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: We found out very little, Becky, I think, you know, I was actually really eager for this interview, because just having

covered Donald Trump for as long as I have, he tends to be more candid and say honestly to make news when he feels like he's in a friendlier

environment.

And of course, Musk, someone who recently endorsed him, who Donald Trump has a relationship with. He was a friendly interviewer, and it was a casual

conversation. I had some of my sources texting me, people close to the former president, saying this is exactly what Donald Trump sounds like when

he's on the phone.

And it did. It felt like two hours of them kind of blowing out and just having this casual conversation. But we didn't hear anything new about

Donald Trump's views. We did hear him talk about some policy things he mentioned how he wants to disband the Department of Education.

That is something he has said before that wasn't new, but he did say he wants that to be a state's issue. At one point, Musk had actually floated

the idea of creating some sort of agency to monitor government efficiency said he would run it. Donald Trump said, I love that idea, but we really

didn't hear anything new from the former president.

It was a lot of the same attacks on Harris and on Biden, and a lot of the same grievances that we've heard him kind of lay out throughout the course

of his campaign. Now, when it came to Harris, he attacked her over her handling of the border. She said that she wasn't that smart when it came to

Biden, he attacked him for his handling of the war in the Middle East and in Ukraine.

And what I actually found was that he spent a good amount of time talking about Joe Biden, even though we know that Biden is no longer his opponent.

And I do think the underlying thing there, and what lines up with my reporting is that regardless of what Donald Trump says he, of course, is

frustrated by Biden no longer being the one that he is going to face off with --

ANDERSON: Right. I do want our viewers to get a listen to some of what Trump said. And given that we are very, sort of concentrated on what is

going on in Gaza at present, let's just hear what Trump said about Jewish voters. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I say if you're a Jewish person, or if you believe in Israel, if you're a, a

person that, you know, is a very pro-Israel, if you vote for her, it's worse than Biden and Biden was bad. But if you vote for her, you ought to

have your head examined.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: He used to repeat this line that Jewish people should vote Republican. He clearly doesn't have the same worries about the war in Gaza

that a Democratic candidate like Harris does. I mean, he said, you know, he will solve this. Just explain to our viewers how he proposes to do that.

TREENE: Well, he doesn't have any details for how he proposes to do that. I mean, when he met with Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu

recently at Mar-a-Lago, his home in Florida, Donald Trump, repeated these same things that, you know, if he were the one who were president, the war

would have never happened, that if he is elected and wins in November, that he will end the war very quickly.

But he has offered no details for how to do so when I asked the Trump campaign pushing them about more information on what he exactly means, they

say he is not in the business of sharing these types of plans before he is in the position to act on them. But look those comments that you just heard

about how it's crazy to him that Jewish people would ever vote for a Democrat.

That is not new, either. He has said this repeatedly, even though they are very stereotypical, even though they have angered many people in the Jewish

community, Republicans, conservatives and Democrats alike. But this is how Donald Trump views this issue.

Remember, in the aftermath of the 2020 election, and when he lost to Biden, his relationship with Netanyahu soured, in large part because he felt that

Netanyahu was being disloyal by congratulating Joe Biden on winning and vowing to work with him. Donald Trump, still to this day, when you talk

about Israeli politics and politics in the Middle East with him.

He argues that he was the most pro-Israel U.S. President in modern history. And he does believe that, and he believes that he is the one who will

deliver the most for the Israeli people. I think you know he does conflate the idea of being Jewish, with being pro-Israel and what's happening in the

war. But again, not anything new from him, despite these attacks receiving a lot of backlashes and he continues to keep making them.

ANDERSON: It's good to have you. I know you've been on this beat for so long, and it's so important that we get your insight and analysis as we are

now, within 90 days of what is this extremely consequential U.S. election. Thank you. Still to come. We catch you up on that raging wildfire near

Athens in Greece. Fire crews are now in their third day battling multiple fires after a huge blaze ignited on Sunday.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:20:00]

ANDERSON: Well, some improvements to report on what is fast moving wildfire near Athens in Greece, but amid new evacuation orders earlier today, fire

crews say they are now focusing efforts on hot spots that stem from the bigger main fire on Sunday, the blaze totally engulfed this neighborhood

near Athens and at least one person has died.

This is video shot earlier today in a town 20 minutes outside Athens. So far, more than 40,000 hectares have been destroyed, and that has destroyed

homes and businesses. More than 700 firefighters have been working non-stop to put out the flames. Let's get you to CNN's Eleni Giokos, who is there in

Greece near Athens, and how is the situation, Eleni where you are now?

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, look, it's a mixed picture. This is basically what we're seeing in terms of the aftermath of these raging

wildfires that ripped through various parts of Southeastern Attica, which is around 11 miles from the city center. We've got a tri-truck here behind

us, and this is what they're doing.

I mean, we're seeing so many of these trucks trying to put out. What's left of some of the fires. This home in particular is still. There's a fire

inside there. They've been here all morning trying to put that out. We spoke to the residents there. They're too devastated to even speak to us

about what they're going through.

And they tell me that they're going to be put up somewhere for two nights, and then they're going to be left to their own devices. They have nowhere

else to go. We've seen, I've actually lost counts of how many cars, burn cars I've seen. I mean, completely devastated. You can see the state of the

wheels, Becky.

Nothing left, anything I touch is completely black, and it's blackened my hands, my face is full of suits, and just goes to show just how bad the air

quality is right now. Now, you mentioned a woman has lost her life. This is the site. This is the building, Becky, where they found her.

It was an events company, and she for some reason, went to work. Some people evacuated, listen to the evacuation's orders, and she was then found

in the bathroom, which is so devastating. I spoke to some of her co- workers, and they said that she'd been working at this business for 20 years.

She was a foreigner. She came here to send money back home, and she had every intention to go back to her home country at the end of the year. The

pain, the devastation. I mean, honestly, I've been covering these fires, Becky, for the past few years, and every year I just feel the just how

intense this is for people that are facing these fires head on.

[09:25:00]

And they're wondering how a fire that started 40 kilometers away was able to rip through into the suburbs of Athens, and that's what makes this fire

this year particularly important.

ANDERSON: Eleni Giokos is on the ground. Eleni, thank you. Well, summers are getting hotter and longer. That is, according to new data, the 50 most

populated U.S. cities have gotten hotter. Las Vegas came out on top with 83 days, including every day in July, being above 95 degrees Fahrenheit, or 35

degrees Celsius, peaking at 120 degrees Fahrenheit, or 49 degrees Celsius.

There's also been an extreme jump in the number of hot days, going from an average of 21 days to 37. CNN's Chief Climate Correspondent, Bill Weir,

joining me now, you've had a look at this data. Out of the top 10 cities experiencing the most heat, many were in Texas. Why is that?

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's regional in some cases. I mean, as the planet -- heats up. Some places get hotter faster

than others. It's the built environment. It's the urban heat island effect in these big cities. It's making it worse by adding more concrete for that

heat to bounce around there as well.

But yes, 7 of the 10 top ones that are getting hotter faster are in Texas, a lot are in Arizona. But let me break it down here. We got a bunch of

interesting charts where, Becky, we really took. We added up those days above 95 degrees Fahrenheit, 35 degrees Celsius, from the top 50 biggest

cities in the country.

And you can see that the length of time the summer is getting longer. Now those scorching hot days are happening in mid-June, where it used to be

later in June, they're lasting until the second week of September, so there's more time that's happening. Then as we look at the bar graph across

time, going back to the 70s there, as you say, Las Vegas has added an extra 17.5 days there.

San Antonio is really staggering. They have an extra 15.5 days. But back in the mid-70s, Becky, in San Antonio get one week of the scorching hot

temperatures. Last year, it was 13 weeks, a 1200 percent increase in the scorching hot days as you go down the list, Nashville is getting muggier as

well.

Washington, D.C. and Baltimore having a scorching summer of 2024 probably going to shatter some records and then is at the bottom of the list,

Charlotte adds an extra 16 days as well. Phoenix, Mesa, Tempe, the three biggest cities in Arizona, the three hottest, they are already hot, getting

much hotter.

And this is really playing out as a lesson in real time adaptation in places like Phoenix, where they now have body bags full of ice in every

ambulance and fire truck to try to help heat stroke patients, folks who are either on housed, working with addiction, the young, the older, the most

vulnerable, outside construction workers.

It's affecting building codes in some places in Arizona, they're now trying to build corridors of shade, moving taller buildings closer to the street,

breezeways, planting a lot more trees. But these things take time. And in the meantime, when you realize that this generational jump and scorching

hot temperatures is really preying on the vulnerabilities of society back here, everywhere around the world.

So, looking for the hot places, even in the Middle East, some role models for how to live, how to adapt, how to survive in these triple digits for

longer periods of time.

ANDERSON: Yeah, and we talk about that a lot, and you see a lot of work being done on that, because there is an acceptance, certainly in the part

of the world where this show that I'm anchoring is normally based, which, of course, is Abu Dhabi in the UAE, that there is an acceptance that it is

getting hotter, and these mitigation efforts are extremely important at this point.

It's always good to have you, mate. Thank you very much indeed. You can read the full article, get closer look at those detailed graphics online.

The article explores the data from the International Institute for Environment and Development, going in depth on the rising heat in cities as

well as the longer summers, that data shared exclusively with CNN.

Well, the questions were mostly soft balls, but getting Elon Musk's interview with Donald Trump up and running was tougher after it was nearly

derailed by technical issues. We'll have some of the highlights just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:30:00]

ANDERSON: We're live on Wall Street view another new day of trading begins on the New York Stock Exchange, let's check out what is going on. Futures

were indicating a slightly better open. You're watching "Connect the World" and a key gage of U.S. inflation out in the last hour, showing price hikes

slowed last month.

The Producer Price Index, a measurement of average price changes seen by producers and manufacturers was up 2.2 percent in July. That's compared to

last year, and is a stark pullback from the 2.7 percent year on year increase in June. These numbers set the stage for an even more crucial

reading on price hikes set to be released on Wednesday.

Well, as I promise you, we take a look at how the markets are reacting, and that is the story. And of course, you know, you will be well aware of your

regular viewer of this show. If you watching in the States, you aware of the cost of living. It is, you know, it is as we get these reports in that

we begin to learn more about what the Federal Reserve is likely to do at its -- next meeting.

If not before in an emergency meeting, but likely at its next meeting in September on rates, and that is what is absolutely crucial at this point.

At least in principle, investors in these markets today seem to like what they have seen. It's not worrying them. We await to see further detail this

week.

Well, the world's richest man calls Donald Trump the path to prosperity. That comment came from Elon Musk during a conversation on X that lasted

more than two hours on Monday night. The former president and tech mogul who has endorsed Donald Trump, heaped praise on each other as Trump fielded

friendly questions from Musk that steered in towards his campaign talking points.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Not all endorsements to mean that much. To be honest, your endorsement meant a lot.

ELON MUSK, X OWNER: I haven't been active in, really active in politics before. And I'm just trying to point out that my track record historically

has been moderate, if not moderate, slightly left. And so, this is to people out there who are in the moderate camp to say, I think you should

support Donald Trump for President.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, the discussion marked Trump's return to X after his account had remained dormant for nearly a year. Now, that whole interview, that

discussion, the one-on-one fireside, call it what you will was delayed by more than 40 minutes because of technical difficulties.

Musk said it was a cyber-attack that overwhelmed X's servers. He also blamed mistakes by X's staff for the gaff that prevented people from

joining the stream.

[09:35:00]

Look CNN's Business Writer Clare Duffy following the story for us she was listening in, and this has got a whiff of DeSantis, of course, he famously

interviewed the Florida Governor when he was thinking of, or I think probably running for presidential contender for the Republican Party.

That was, you know, a technical -- I mean, it was an interview which was preceded by a whole load of technical gaffes. What did you make of what you

heard and the problems around this interview? What's Musk been saying?

CLARE DUFFY, CNN BUSINESS WRITER: Yeah, Becky, there is really a lot to unpack here, but let's start with those technical issues which prevented

people from joining the stream. It delayed the stream, as you said, by about 40 minutes. Musk initially blames that on what's called distributed

denial of service, cyber-attack, a DDOS attack, which is where attackers will try to flood a website with junk traffic to try to overwhelm its

servers and knock it off line.

Tech experts pretty immediately questioned that reasoning. They said the rest of the site was working fine at the time, and it may have just been a

matter of too many people trying to join this conversation, real people trying to listen in. And X's servers couldn't handle it, because Musk has

pulled back on engineering resources and server resources at the company.

Musk did circle back this morning and say that it also was due at least in part to what he called unforced errors on the part of the company, but

certainly not a good look, especially, as you said, after that other conversation with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was marred by the same

kinds of technical glitches last year, a sign that perhaps this company, which wants to become the everything app, has more work to do on its

technical infrastructure, Becky.

So that's part one. And then we get to the actual meet of this discussion, which, as you said, went on for more than two hours was frankly, kind of

rambly, but Musk lobbed softball questions at Trump, and was, you know, again, they were both sort of praising each other.

Trump got to talk about a lot of his sort of core policy issues, things like immigration, and crime, and trying to lower inflation. And really

these fits in a larger pattern of Musk trying to use X to directly campaign for Trump. He's also shared misleading information about the election.

He shared a manipulated video about Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump's opponent. And it's really sort of striking to see the CEO of a social

platform seeking to leverage the power of that platform to directly try to influence the outcome of an election. I will say too, Becky, that Musk did

say this morning in a post that he would be happy to have Vice President Kamala Harris on one of these events.

But he also said during this discussion last night with Trump, you can't have a conversation with Biden or Kamala, so unclear to me how genuine that

offer is.

ANDERSON: I mean, now that he's endorsed Donald Trump, you could argue that it was a great opportunity to sort of cross examine Trump's narrative, you

know, for the better of Donald Trump and to underscore why it is that he's endorsing, but he didn't take that opportunity.

DUFFY: Yeah --

ANDERSON: -- ahead of the interview, the European Union warned Trump and Musk about spreading harmful propaganda. We heard Trump and Musk keeping

praise on each other throughout that interview. Did they -- as far as what we understand to be these warnings, was this -- would this be deemed by

authorities as harmful propaganda?

DUFFY: Well, I mean, I think it's sort of unclear how regulators will look at this. You did hear Musk last night, actually mocking that letter,

mocking the European regulators who had reached out to him, asking him not to spread election disinformation. But what we did here is that Trump

shared at least 20 false claims, again, about everything from immigration to clock to crime to some of the administration policies that the Biden

Administration has taken.

Musk didn't really challenge him on any of that. And so again, I think it's this pattern where we're increasingly seeing what used to be a really

mainstream social media platform where millions of people went to get their news being used to spread election disinformation, and again, to try to

directly influence the outcome of this election.

ANDERSON: Fascinating, isn't it? It's always good to have you. Thank you very much indeed. Well ahead in sports, post Olympics controversy U.S.

gymnast was stripped of a bronze medal, and why the fight to get it back is not over.

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[09:40:00]

ANDERSON: Well, Team USA just completed one of its best Olympic performances ever, winning the overall medal count and tying China for gold

medals, each with 40. But there is one less medal in the official count after Gymnast Jordan Chiles was stripped of her bronze medal in what are

highly unusual circumstances. Patrick Snell, with the details, Patrick.

PATRICK SNELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: Becky, you know you do wonder, why didn't they just award two bronze medals, double bronze medal, or maybe even three

bronze medals to take care of all of this. Instead, we're left with a horrible, messy scenario. The dust has certainly settled on the Paris

Games, Becky.

But the battle for that bronze continues on Sunday, just to recap quickly, for our viewers, the AOC, the games organizers announcing the bronze medal

that was given to Jordan Chiles initially would be now ordered to the Romanian teen Ana Barbosu, who the 18-year-old.

That news coming after a court of arbitration was fort ruling that determined the initial inquiry made by the Americans over Chiles's scoring

was filed after the one-minute deadline. Now we've learned that Team USA's appeal of that ruling has been denied. The saga continues in just a few

minutes.

I do want everyone to hear the very powerful voice of our Sports Contributor, Christine Brennan. Christine telling us, amongst other things,

the mental toll this is all taking on these very young athletes in question, how that could well prove to be substantial and for some time to

come, Becky that in "World Sport" in just a few moments, very important topic.

ANDERSON: And that is up. Absolutely that's up after this short break. We are back after that. Please stay with us. You're watching CNN.

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[09:45:00]

(WORLD SPORT)

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