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Trump-Musk Feud Escalates in Public with Personal Attacks; Russia Hits Ukraine with Massive Aerial Attack; Chaotic, Deadly Week in Gaza Around U.S.-Israel Backed Aid Sites; Freedom Flotilla Coalition Sails ILS Ad Ship to Gaza; IDF Hits Beirut Suburbs, Alleging Hidden Drone Factories; Eight Migrants Being Held in Djibouti; New Artificial Intelligence Model Refuses Human Commands; Millions of Muslims Around the World Celebrating Eid. Aired 10-11a ET

Aired June 06, 2025 - 10:00   ET

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

[10:00:45]

ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Abu Dhabi, this is CONNECT THE WORLD.

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Welcome to our second hour of CONNECT THE WORLD from our Middle East programing headquarters. I'm Eleni

Giokos. I'm in for Becky Anderson.

The world's richest man and the president of the United States are now in a battle of wits. How the friendship between Donald Trump and Elon Musk came

to an end.

Ukrainian officials say Russia targeted almost all of Ukraine in an overnight attack, with drones and even ballistic missiles.

Israel attacks the suburbs of Beirut, targeting alleged Hezbollah drone factories. This marks its biggest escalation in Lebanon since the U.S.

brokered a ceasefire.

Well, the most powerful man in the world is talking to CNN about one of the messiest, high profile splits in political history. U.S. President Donald

Trump says he is not even thinking about Elon Musk and won't be speaking to him in the near future. Their world famous bromance exploded Thursday in a

bitter public breakup. Musk, the richest man on the planet and a top Trump benefactor, claimed on X, "Without me, Trump would have lost the election.

Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate."

The breakup went public Thursday, with Trump announcing his displeasure with the tech billionaire after Musk blasted the president's sweeping

domestic spending bill. But not long ago, it was one of the most powerful alliances in American politics. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Who did you say? Oh, let me tell you. We have a new star. A star is born. Elon.

He's an amazing person. He's also a caring person.

ELON MUSK, TESLA CEO: I think -- I think President Trump is a good man. Not once have I seen him do something that was mean or cruel or wrong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: Now Elon Musk has gone scorched earth, calling for the impeachment of President Trump after the president aired his latest view of the mind

behind SpaceX and Tesla.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I'm very disappointed because Elon knew the inner workings of this bill better than almost anybody sitting here, better than you people. He

knew everything about it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: Well, it's not, and let's not forget that Trump-Musk alliance had been seen as mutually beneficial. Now, the president could, if he chose,

inflict real damage on Musk's businesses.

I want to bring in CNN political commentator S.E. Cupp and David Graham, staff writer for "The Atlantic."

It is incredible waking up to seeing all these social media posts and this back and forth. It almost feels surreal.

S.E., I want to start with you because frankly Musk is not the first person to exit Trump's orbit. I want you to take a listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: He's not the first. People leave my administration and they love us. And then at some point, they miss it so badly, and some of them embrace it,

and some of them actually become hostile. I don't know what it is. It's sort of Trump derangement syndrome.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: You know, S.E., airing the bromance so publicly in the beginning. I mean, everyone was saying this is going to end in tears and it has. So what

message does this all send, do you think?

S.E. CUPP, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Oh, I mean, this is equal parts simultaneously funny, sad and also pretty embarrassing to see two of the

most powerful, wealthiest men on the planet act like children on social media. That they have disagreements could be handled in a way that was

dignified, these aren't dignified guys. These are guys with overweening egos. And this was always going to end this way, as you said.

You know, guys with egos like they have were not going to be able to coexist for very long. They used each other for their mutual benefit. Trump

used Elon's money, his billionaire status. Elon used Trump to create very favorable operating conditions for all of his businesses. They got what

they wanted. They could part ways amicably, but their egos are going to get in the way and it's going to be -- I mean, it's the end of mutually assured

destruction, that's for sure.

[10:05:12]

GIOKOS: Yes, I mean, that's what it's playing out to be.

I mean David, I want to bring you in. Elon was such a strong backer and loyalist to Trump. I mean, it was so evident. Now he's calling tariffs

super stupid and using language like abomination to describe the bill. He brought the financial backing to President Trump. But does he have the

political capital to shift sentiment? Because that seems like, you know, that's the end game because it's so public and on social media.

DAVID GRAHAM, STAFF WRITER, THE ATLANTIC: I think it's important to remember just how short Musk's alliance with Trump was. It's only in the

last, you know, 18 months or something this developed. He once described himself as a loyal Democrat, and so he tends to move quickly through his

affections and move quickly through his attention. So, you know, that's one reason I think we're seeing this split and one reason why he was never that

steadfast a backer.

Musk has a strong base of really loyal fans. Those people have become part of the Trump coalition. I don't think he commands a great deal of political

power, but the Trump coalition is a little bit fragile. And so if he's able to peel off even some people, that can matter in elections and it could

matter to the fate of Trump's one big, beautiful bill in the Senate, as well.

GIOKOS: S.E., we know that Musk's political spending was very high. Last election cycle he spent $291 million. I mean, difficult to get your head

around that. Will the GOP or Democratic Party be changing their minds on Musk closer to the election because he brings the money?

CUPP: I think that's the question going forward because David is right. I don't think Elon has a ton of political clout. And certainly without

Trump's backing, that's less. We saw what happened in Wisconsin with that Supreme Court election for a judge. Elon's candidate didn't win despite all

of his money and backing. So the political influence I think has waned. But he is still very wealthy.

And as long as Elon wants to be in the business of politics, people are going to want his money. So we'll have to see if the GOP decides that

coming up for midterms, which Trump doesn't really care about, he's only cared about elections involving him. But the GOP will care about these

elections. Will the GOP try to welcome Elon back into the fold? And then how -- forgive me for saying, how dumb and craven will Democrats be if they

try to pull in Elon's money and influence? And how will that look?

It seems unimaginable that both parties would just leave Elon's money on the table, but it's going to be messy going forward, that's for sure.

GIOKOS: Yes, but wait, but wait, there's more, S.E. and David. Musk on X posting a poll on whether America needs a new political party. And while we

don't know if this is a true litmus test for American electorate, it does signal that perhaps he could be wanting to back something new. And would

that be a threat to President Trump?

So, David, let's start with you, and S.E., you can follow with your comment.

GRAHAM: Oh, it's so hard to know, again, because his attention span is so short. And obviously he can't run for president because he's not a natural

born American. It's hard to know what kind of political constituency he would have. His knowledge of politics seems very shallow. He's interested

in his own business interests, and he's now claiming to be a deficit hawk, which is a relatively new pose.

So I'm not sure what the core of such a party would be. I think it's hard at this point to imagine him drawing a lot of votes from Democrats simply

because he has tarnished so much of his reputation. But as S.E. says, Democratic politicians may want to come around to him. So I'd be curious to

see the platform, but I wouldn't expect it to be a major force in American politics.

GIOKOS: Yes. Yes. S.E., what do you think when you saw that poll?

CUPP: Yes, it'll be interesting. Yes. And he's not wrong. There is a lot of discontent with both parties. As strong as the Republican Party is we

imagine it's actually fairly, it's condensed. It's pure. It's purely MAGA, but it's not as big as former big tent Republican parties were. And there's

a lot of voters left out of the two-party system. They're in the middle. They feel orphaned. So Elon Musk is not wrong in his impulse to want to

back something new.

What would that look like? I know there are people talking about third party ideas. Is Elon too toxic to be politically influential between the

parties? There are a lot of questions remaining about Elon's political heft. We'll just have to see.

GIOKOS: So I want you to take a listen to Steve Bannon and his description of the leverage that President Trump has. Listen in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE BANNON, FORMER WHITE HOUSE CHIEF STRATEGIST: Don't give me the entrepreneur stuff. Everything he's associated with is a government

contract.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

BANNON: Government contract. You pull the government contracts and we'll see how tough this guy is.

[10:10:03]

And that's what should be done right now. The ax should -- that President Trump should be taking immediately I think when he threatens to take one of

the big programs out of SpaceX. President Trump tonight should sign an executive order calling for the Defense Production Act to be called in

SpaceX and seize SpaceX tonight before midnight. The U.S. government should seize it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: And actually Elon Musk said that he was going to decommission Dragon spacecraft. And then he kind of walked that back when someone told

him on social media, you know, you've got to cool down a bit. So, S.E., what's your reaction to that?

CUPP: Yes, Eleni, I'm sure you have a contract. I have a contract in my job. David, maybe you have a contract as well. You don't snap your fingers

and end a contract. Now take our contracts and multiply them by 100 because government contracts are big, they're unwieldy, they're arcane. They're

very hard to undo. They take teams of lawyers and often years to undo a government contract.

So Steve Bannon and Donald Trump can talk tough about Elon's contracts, but he has contracts with the U.S. government. They're not going to go away

overnight.

GIOKOS: OK. So Dmitry Medvedev, a senior Russian official, has offered to help strike a peace deal between D and E, between Donald Trump and Elon

Musk, which I think he was sort of saying in jest. But, I mean, the Russians are now kind of weighing in on this very public spat.

David, you're smiling. So what's your response?

GRAHAM: Well, it's remarkable how this is drawing out all of the trolls. You know, Bannon wants to get into this story because he's been a little

bit out of the mix.

GIOKOS: Yes.

GRAHAM: The Russians are happy to get in and get into the story as well. It's attracting anybody else who wants to grab some of the attention that

Elon and Trump are both so good at grabbing for themselves.

GIOKOS: Yes. All right. David Graham, S.E. Cupp, great to have you with us. Thank you so much for those insights as the story develops and evolves, and

I don't think it's ending any time soon. Much appreciated.

All right. Moving on now and we are tracking developments in Ukraine after one of the most intense nights of Russian bombings since the war began. The

Ukrainian president says Russia used more than 400 drones and more than 40 missiles in the attack.

CNN's Fred Pleitgen has the details for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The massive explosions rocked the Kyiv skyline overnight, shaking the Ukrainian

capital as the country endured another night of intense Russian bombardment. Several emergency workers were killed in the capital, and

dozens of civilians were injured across the country.

In Lutsk, Northwest Ukraine, as the sun rose, the missiles fell. Athlete Sofia Rumasyuk (PH)INAUDIBLE), a Ukrainian shot putter, captured the moment

of impact. She and fellow athletes from the Ukrainian national team were visiting the city for a competition when their hotel was hit by a blast.

The country has been bracing for Russian retaliation after an audacious strike by the Ukrainian military on airfields deep inside Russia, as

residents in Kyiv picked through the remains of their apartments this morning, many feeling lucky to have survived.

ARTEM, RESIDENT OF DAMAGED APARTMENT (through translator): Usually we stay in the corridor during the attacks and this time my wife also insisted that

we sleep in the corridor, so she saved my life.

PLEITGEN: It wasn't clear if this was Putin's much anticipated response or just business as usual in Russia's aerial campaign. Russia's Defense

Ministry said it had struck targets in Ukraine in response to what it called Kyiv's, quote, "terrorists act."

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy calling on America and Europe to put more pressure on Russia to end the war, saying, anyone, quote, "giving the war

more time to take lives that is complicity and accountability."

This after President Trump on Thursday compared Russia and Ukraine to children fighting and said it may be better to let them continue for a

while.

TRUMP: Maybe you're going to have to keep fighting and suffering a lot because both sides are suffering before you pull them apart, before they're

able to be pulled apart.

PLEITGEN: Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Berlin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GIOKOS: Allegations of a blatant ceasefire violation and an underground factory making attack drones. The new accusations and airstrikes flying

across the border between Israel and Lebanon. That's coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:16:53]

GIOKOS: The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation announced today that all of its aid distribution sites are currently closed. It caps off a chaotic week for

the controversial U.S. and Israeli backed group. Starting on Sunday, June 1st, a CNN investigation involving eyewitnesses, weapons experts and

geolocated videos points to the Israeli military opening fire on crowds of Palestinians as they tried to make their way to get food. Palestinian

officials say at least 31 people were killed. One man describes a harrowing scene.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOHAMMAD QDEIH, GAZA RESIDENT (through translator): Whoever manages to push forward might get something. Those who can't get nothing. People are

starving. There's no place to get food except that dangerous point. It's not a humanitarian point. It's a death trap. The gunfire was intense.

Someone next to me was shot in the shoulder. And when people died there, no one carries them away. Bodies are piled up on top of each other.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: On Monday, at approximately the same location, three Palestinians were shot dead and dozens wounded. On Tuesday, nearly 30 Palestinians

killed and dozens wounded again on their way to the aid site. The Israeli military says it opened fire after identifying what it called suspects

deviating from designated access routes, and denies firing within or near the aid site.

GHF maintains it's not responsible for these deaths because it did not take place within its aid perimeter. Regardless, Palestinians are distraught.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALI WAFI, BROTHER OF MAN KILLED NEAR AID SITE (through translator): The U.S. and Israel, what do they tell us? Go and get your food and water and

the aid when the aid arrives, they hit us. Is this fair? Is this fair? Death, those who go to get food from there die. Yesterday, 35 martyrs were

brought to the hospital. From where? From where they went to get food. They were not going for fun. They were going to get food and drinks. This is the

injustice that we are in.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: On Wednesday, as international outcry grows over these days of shootings, GHF pauses its operations to bolster security. Then Thursday,

the GHF resumed a distribution for an hour. Now that brings us to back to Friday, today, where again all GHF sites are closed.

The GHF's future is now unclear. What is clear is that the operations around the rollout have been deadly as well as chaotic. It was created to

ensure no aid made it into Hamas's hands, but it has not actually screen its aid recipients, according to firsthand accounts. Palestinians on the

ground describe a free-for-all.

The U.N. aid system, meanwhile, typically checks ID's and uses a database of registered families. All of these are thus begging the question, why

create this entirely new system when one already exists? It perhaps reminiscent of the Biden administration building a manmade pier last year

that ultimately failed to deliver enough aid. Aid groups said then and now the simplest way to get aid into Gaza is for Israel to let it through

border crossings.

[10:20:04]

Now there's another attempt to address this problem, or at least draw more attention to it. Right now, Greta Thunberg and 11 other activists are

sailing towards Gaza. The Freedom Flotilla Coalition is trying to take matters into their own hands, bring aid to the people of Gaza, and draw

attention to their desperate suffering. As for the likely Israeli response, it says it is prepared, and I quote, "for a wide range of scenarios."

And as we speak now, Greta Thunberg on board the ship Madeleine heading for Gaza. With her is Yasemin Acar, an organizer of the Freedom Flotilla

Coalition. And they join me now live.

Welcome to the show, Greta and Yasmin. Great to have you with us. You set sail a few days ago. I want you to tell me how the trip is going and how

you guys are doing.

YASEMIN ACAR, ORGANIZER, FREEDOM FLOTILLA COALITION: We're doing well. Thank you. Spirits are high. We are doing the things that we would do at

home, just in a different way. There are drones hovering above us for three nights now. Greek drones made by Israel. But it's going well. Even if there

are drones hovering above us we are still on our way to Gaza. There's no turning back. And were hoping to make it into Gaza within two days.

GIOKOS: So you want a -- Greta, you want to make it into Gaza. That's the ultimate plan despite the fact the Israeli military has says they're

prepared for all scenarios. So when you're hearing those drones above you, how do you feel?

GRETA THUNBERG, CLIMATE ACTIVIST: All those scenarios were included in our risk assessments that we had made prior to getting on this mission. And of

course, we know that it's a very risky mission, and we know that previous experiences with flotillas like this has resulted in attacks,

interceptions, violence and even cases of death. But of course none of those risks are even remotely as high as to the risk that Palestinians are

facing every day just by trying to survive.

And right now, as you said, the mission is to get to Gaza to be able to deliver and distribute the humanitarian aid that we're carrying. But we are

well aware of the risks of going there, but we are aiming for that.

GIOKOS: So you were talking, Greta, about the risk assessment and being prepared for any eventuality and any scenario. So let me ask you this. How

far are you willing to go? Because we don't know what kind of confrontation you could face. We just know that you've been warned.

THUNBERG: Yes. And of course, the uncertainties are very big here. We have gone out on this mission knowing the risks. But again, not saying anything

in times of injustice when we are facing genocide, to be silent is by far a more bigger, a bigger risk than getting on this mission. And we are

preparing to respond in a nonviolent way. We are 12 peaceful volunteers on this mission. We are not carrying weapons.

We are carrying food, sanitary products, medical supplies, things that are necessary to get into Gaza that have been prevented by Israel from getting

into Gaza. And we are sailing on international waters, bringing humanitarian aid. If they stop this humanitarian aid, that is a crime. We

are not doing anything wrong here. We are just doing our part to continue to try to break the siege on Gaza and to open up a humanitarian corridor.

GIOKOS: Yasemin, a U.S. lawmaker, posted this on social media and says that I hope that Greta and her friends can swim. We've got that up on screen

right now. I'm sure you've seen this. What is your response to that?

ACAR: Well, my response would be, we are great swimmers. We are very athletic. And I am from the Middle East, so I'm very, good with swimming in

the Mediterranean. But these comments just show us how our leaders are responding to a humanitarian mission, how our leaders are not doing what

they're supposed to do so that we take on this task as activists to do exactly what our leaders are supposed to do. Stop the starvation, lift the

illegal blockade on Gaza, which is over a decade old.

And we've been watching a genocide for almost 20 months now, and nothing has happened. Instead of shipping aid and helping the Palestinians in Gaza,

they're shipping more and more weapons.

GIOKOS: Yes. Greta, what's your response to that? Because when I said, you know, I hope Greta and her friends can swim, that's the line from Lindsey

Graham, you smiled. You know, and it's interesting because some of the criticism is almost threatening.

[10:25:02]

THUNBERG: Yes. And as Yasemin said, we do know how to swim, and we are going through these safety procedures and training. And of course, as she

also said, we are doing this because our complicit governments and international institutions are failing to step up. And the fact that

elected officials, people whose responsibility it is to uphold human rights and protect people that they spend their time mocking, even threatening

peaceful activists who are just trying to do their part rather than actually helping the situation, there's so much better things they could be

spending their time doing, and yet they're not, which I think says all about their priorities and their racist approaches.

GIOKOS: Yasemin, Israel Katz, the Israeli defense minister, in March had said that they will not be refraining from blocking aid ships seeking to

enter Gaza, but will instead seize their vessels. So let me ask you this. Did you try and coordinate with the Israeli government at all to get

approvals? Were those approvals rejected? You know, tell me how difficult it is for any vessel wanting to get aid to Gaza.

ACAR: Before starting about talking about vessels, we are seeing the trucks, the hundreds of trucks in front of the Rafah border not getting in.

And this is why we are taking a sailing boat to go to Gaza because nothing is getting in, even on land. And it is, we've been doing this for many,

many years. The Freedom Flotilla started in 2008 after the illegal siege was imposed on Gaza in 2007. We are well aware that it's difficult. It's a

difficult journey. But we are trying our best to do what the Freedom Flotilla has been trying to do for so many years.

And as far as cooperate, like talking to the Israeli occupation forces we can see that the Israeli occupation forces are not collaborating with

anyone. And they are making statements, like in March the defense minister did say that, when we come, they will let us in and they will take our ship

and put Palestinians on it and ship them outside of Gaza. So we see the arrogance here. And again, we are within the law. We are not doing anything

wrong as Greta said.

We are in international waters going to the territorial waters of Gaza. But these are occupied, which is a breach of international laws. If Israel were

to do anything, they are committing a crime. It is a war crime to attack a civilian vessel carrying civilians and humanitarian aid.

GIOKOS: Yes. I mean, I know that you and I keep going back to this risk assessment because I'm sure you're thinking about it. You've got these

drones overhead, you've got the warnings that came through from Israeli military. And I'm sure you're thinking about this. You're thinking about

what could really play out. What scenarios are you anticipating? What are you thinking about? I mean, we just don't know what that's going to look

like.

Greta, are you -- is this keeping you up at night? Are you concerned?

THUNBERG: No. We knew what we were getting into. And as I said, we have done these risk assessments and we know what to do. We are prepared for the

scenarios. What I am most afraid of is the deadly passivity and apathy that people are showing in the face of genocide. I am terrified that we are

losing our humanity, that people especially lawmakers and people and those in power are able to witness a genocide and be actively complicit in it.

That terrifies me.

GIOKOS: You guys also did a bit of a D route because you helped some migrants that were on a boat in distress.

Greta, tell me, tell me, take me through to that experience and what happened now that you've got more people on your boat at this stage because

of that rescue mission.

THUNBERG: We were approaching a rapidly deflating boat that was sinking, carrying dozens of people trying to flee and ensure their survival and

safety. And those people were boarded onto a Libyan coast guard ship at the time when we were there, circling around, trying to find ways to help. And

then there were four people who fell overboard that came onto our ship that have -- that are not on the ship anymore.

And of course, this is just yet another humanitarian crisis happening in the Mediterranean Sea where we know that these catastrophes happen

constantly.

[10:30:00]

And even though we are on a humanitarian aid mission towards Gaza that doesn't stop the possibility of humanitarian crises happening along the

way. And then we all have a responsibility to uphold human rights.

GIOKOS: So, Yasemin, take me through that experience because we're, you know, we're monitoring your tracker and we can see that it was quite a big

diversion to assist those migrants.

ACAR: Well, when we received the mayday call in the morning, it was very clear to us what we will do. It is our moral duty and we have to help

people, even if we're on our way to deliver humanitarian aid. We are aware that the Mediterranean is a cemetery, has become a cemetery, and we all, I

mean, we all were aligned on this decision to turn back and try to help the people on the move fleeing Sudan.

And when we got there, it was not nice to, it was not nice to see what's happening. We all are aware of, you know, what's happening but seeing that

firsthand and people jumping into the water because they do not want to go to Libya, risking their lives and not knowing that we will take them on

board, shows everything of the crisis that we are living, that these people are living. And to mention these people are coming from Sudan. And our

governments are funding and fueling the war there.

GIOKOS: You know, I want to go back to what critics have been saying because, you know, one of the things they're asking is this a question of

centering this entire trip around publicity, or is it about awareness? What is your response to that? I'm sure you've seen the plethora of articles

saying, well, this is just a publicity stunt, Greta?

THUNBERG: I have not seen those articles. But this is a mission mainly to deliver humanitarian aid that is so desperately needed. But it is also a

mission of showing solidarity with the Palestinian people and showing that we will not give up because no matter what the odds are, we have to keep

trying and we have to uphold our promise to Palestinians to keep do everything we have at hand to try to break the siege and open up

humanitarian corridor and demand an end to the occupation and the injustice.

And unfortunately the media works in a way that if something like this happens that can become a way of focusing on the situation in Palestine.

This is not about us on board this ship. This is about that this trip should not have to exist. This is about that we are seeing a systemic mass

starvation of over two million people that Palestinians have been enduring, suffocating oppression by Israel for decades and decades.

And we are now seeing a genocide with our governments are complicit and are failing to step up. And that's why it falls on us as humans to do whatever

we can.

THUNBERG: Well, Greta and Yasemin, I mean, it does come in the backdrop of a very chaotic and deadly aid distribution over the past week in Gaza. And

thank you for shedding a spotlight on this. I wish you a safe journey, to you and everyone else, and all the crew on board. Best of luck. Thank you

so much.

All right. In the southern suburbs of Beirut, people are assessing the damage from Israeli airstrikes. Israel says it was targeting Hezbollah

drone factories that were hidden in civilian areas. But Lebanese leaders are condemning the attack as a blatant violation of Israel's ceasefire with

Hezbollah.

I spoke to CNN's Salma Abdelaziz last hour about the strikes, which came on the eve of a major Islamic holiday.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is absolutely a significant escalation, Eleni. And on an eve when people should have been gathering and

celebrating for the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, instead they were packing their bags and running for their lives as the Israeli military

announced these locations, where they then later carried out the strikes that the Israeli military says were intended to hit Hezbollah drone

factories.

Now, it's unclear if this is a one-time operation at, again, those allegations of a drone factories by Hezbollah in those parts of Lebanon, or

if this means that there is an extended, a longer military offensive here. But for now, things have fallen silent. Lebanese authorities say that there

are no reported casualties at this time and the hope is that the commitment remains to that ceasefire brokered in November -- Eleni.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GIOKOS: Ahead on the show, details of the conditions that recently reported migrants are facing at a U.S. military base in Africa. We'll tell you what

a senior ICE official shared in a new court filing. We'll bring you those details right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:37:20]

GIOKOS: Welcome back to CONNECT THE WORLD with me, Eleni Giokos. Here are your headlines.

Lebanese leaders are fiercely condemning Israeli airstrikes that hit the southern suburbs of Beirut late Thursday. The Israeli military says it was

targeting hidden Hezbollah drone factories. Lebanon's president calls the attack a blatant violation of a ceasefire agreed in November.

Russia hit Ukraine with drones and missiles overnight in one of the biggest aerial attacks since the war began. The Kremlin says it was retaliation for

what it's calling Kyiv's terrorist attacks. It comes just days after the Ukrainian bombing raid on Russia's air fleet.

U.S. President Donald Trump is talking to CNN about the breakdown of his relationship with former adviser and benefactor Elon Musk. Trump tells us

he is, quote, "not even thinking" about the billionaire and won't be getting in touch with him in the near future. This comes after their world

famous bromance ended in a very messy and public breakup. Just days ago it was one of the most powerful alliances in American politics.

A group of migrants detained at a U.S. military base in the East African country of Djibouti are being held in a conference room inside a converted

shipping container. And that's according to a U.S. ICE official in a new court filing. The eight migrants who have criminal records were on a U.S.

flight that was initially headed for South Sudan, but they are now at the base in Djibouti with their immediate future uncertain and an appeal

against their detention awaiting a decision from the U.S. Supreme Court. Lawyers for the detainees told the court this week they had not been able

to contact their clients.

For more now I'm now joined by Priscilla Alvarez in Washington, D.C.

Priscilla, pretty remarkable story here. What more do we know about their conditions? They're in this container, this converted container. Give us a

sense of what we understand to be the situation.

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. The court filing that was submitted yesterday evening certainly sheds a lot of light as to what the

conditions are for the eight detainees that are now in Djibouti at a U.S. military base. As you had just mentioned, they are staying in that shipping

container. They are under surveillance by immigration enforcement officers, nearly a dozen of them.

And in the filing, it says, quote, "The conference room in which the aliens are housed is not equipped nor suitable for detention of any length, let

alone for the detention of high risk individuals. Notably, the room has none of the security apparatus necessary for the detention of criminal

aliens." These are migrants who the Department of Homeland Security says has criminal records.

[10:40:01]

But all of this began last month when the administration tried to transfer these detainees, who were in the United States, to war-torn South Sudan.

But a federal judge said that doing so was in violation of his court order, which is how they landed in Djibouti, or rather why. The federal judge

found that they were only given about 24 or less than 24 hours' notice that they would be sent to South Sudan, where they have no ties.

This includes, for example, citizen of Cuba, Laos, Mexico, among others. And the judge has said before in his court orders that the administration

can send migrants to countries that are not their own, but they have to be provided meaningful opportunity to contest their removal and also

reasonable notice as to where they're going. And he found that the administration just didn't meet that standard.

So that leads us to what is happening now with these eight detainees in Djibouti. The reason that they are still on this base is because the judge

said that they now need to have that opportunity, they need to be interviewed in what is called the reasonable fear interview to establish

whether they would face persecution or fear in South Sudan.

Now, all of that is expected to unfold in the days to come, though, as you also mentioned, counsel has not yet heard from these detainees. So this is

very much an active case. It's one that we are learning more about. And I will just say that another part of this is that this filing, while it talks

about these harsh conditions, for example, the heat, the burn pits, the medical apparatus there that is lacking for these detainees and the

officers, they are choosing, they being the Trump administration, to keep the migrants in Djibouti.

The federal judge didn't require that. He said that they could bring them back to the United States to meet the standards that he had set out, but

the administration chose to keep them there to do the, or rather, to provide that interview, as it were when they are able to set up those phone

lines for the detainees to talk to counsel as well as other officers. So certainly this is something that we'll be keeping an eye out on.

For now there doesn't appear to be an end in sight, both for the immigration officers and for the detainees who are at that base.

GIOKOS: All right. Priscilla Alvarez, thanks so much for that update.

We're also following two high-profile trials that are underway in New York right now. Women testifying under the pseudonym Jane is back on the stand

in the sex trafficking and racketeering case against Sean "Diddy" Combs. Yesterday, she told the jury that what began as a consensual relationship

with Combs led to her being pressured to take part in the star's drug fueled sex parties, and she said she felt she was obligated to comply

because he was financially supporting her.

Just down the street the jury deliberations are expected to resume today in the retrial of Harvey Weinstein. The fallen film industry titan is accused

of raping an actress and sexually assaulting two other women. He was convicted back in 2020, but it was overturned by an appeals court citing

errors by the judge. A new accuser, Kaja Sokola, came forward for the retrial.

CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister spoke to her lawyer earlier.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LINDSAY GOLDBRUM, ATTORNEY FOR KAJA SOKOLA: There was a lot of victim shaming and blaming and rapists and all sorts of tropes being trotted out

by the defense. But at the end of the day, I think that her truth really rang clear and she felt better. You know, she felt like she finally was

able to stand up to him for what he had done to her when she was just a teenager.

And remember, she was 16 when she met Harvey Weinstein, and the first time she claimed he assaulted her. And then this charge incident was when she

was 19 years old. So she was just a kid. Truly. She was a child when she met Harvey Weinstein, and now she finally as a 39-year-old woman got to

stand up to him.

I think that to a certain extent, he was the poster boy for the Me Too Movement, right? He was the person who the claims against really amplified

people's voices. And it's when people started paying attention.

ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: It's what made those allegations in 2017 against Weinstein is what made Me Too as a hashtag, go

viral.

GOLDBRUM: Exactly. And so I think that, you know, he was able -- his face was able to amplify the movement. Absolutely. But that doesn't make him a

victim. You know? He was accused of all these things by hundreds of women. They are the victims, right? He is not the victim here. And so just because

his face may be known in connection with Me Too doesn't mean it wasn't deserved.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: Weinstein has pled not guilty and denied all accusations against him. He is already serving a separate 16-year sentence after being

convicted of rape in California.

All right. We're going to a short break. More news in just a moment. Stay with CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:47:14]

GIOKOS: It looks like some types of artificial intelligence are becoming too intelligent and maybe too powerful as well. A new study found some A.I.

models fight back if they're programmed to shut down.

CNN's Tom Foreman has the details for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Artificial intelligence staging a real-life revolt. In a series of tests a new powerful A.I. model

directly refused human commands, according to Palisade Research which studies the technology. Specifically, Palisades says the new program from

the company OpenAI sabotaged a shutdown mechanism even when explicitly instructed allow yourself to be shut down. Not every time, but enough to

raise alarms.

JUDD ROSENBLATT, CEO, AGENCY ENTERPRISE STUDIO: We have no idea how A.I. actually works. We need to be fairly concerned that behaviors like this may

get way worse as it gets more powerful.

FOREMAN: The idea of intelligent machines resisting human control has been a sci-fi trope for ages in movies like "I, Robot," but A.I. developments

are sharpening concerns. When another company's A.I. chatbot was threatened with being shut down, it threatened to expose the engineer in charge for an

alleged extramarital affair. It was all just a test.

DARIO AMODEI, CEO, ANTHROPIC: This is an example of how we have to be very careful in how we take control of A.I. systems.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: You've spoken out saying that A.I. could manipulate or possibly figure out a way to kill humans?

FOREMAN: Almost two years ago, right here on CNN, the so- called godfather of A.I. warned it will get smarter, could get out of control.

GEOFFREY HINTON, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE PIONEER: And it knows how to program so it will figure out ways of getting around restrictions we put on

it. It'll figure out ways of manipulating people to do what it wants.

FOREMAN: Now industry experts suggest that may be happening much sooner than expected, triggering warnings of catastrophic national security risks,

a potential extinction-level threat to the human species, and at very least, massive job disruptions.

ANDREW YANG, CO-CHAIR AND CO-FOUNDER, FORWARD PARTY: It's going to affect just about every segment of the economy and a lot of Americans are going to

be looking up wondering what happened to the jobs.

FOREMAN (on-camera): It is important to note that this incident of the program refusing to do what it was told happened in a test, but the real-

world questions about it go on.

Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GIOKOS: All right. I'll be back with more news in just a moment. Stay with CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:51:16]

GIOKOS: In today's "Parting Shots," millions of Muslims around the world are celebrating Eid. And this comes as the annual pilgrimage of Hajj

reaches its end. Among those who made the journey to Mecca this year is one of our producers, Kareem El Damanhoury, who shared his experience with us.

Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAREEM EL DAMANHOURY, CNN PRODUCER (voice-over): The Hajj or the Muslim pilgrimage. It is one of the largest annual gatherings in the world. This

year, about two million people are performing Hajj, but that's less than 0.1 percent of the world's Muslim population.

Hey, I'm Kareem, one of the lucky ones who'll be fulfilling the Hajj dream in 2025. And so I'll be taking you with me all the way from here in Denver,

Colorado, to Saudi Arabia, where I'm going to be stoning the devil.

(Voice-over): More on that later. In the meantime, off we go. In that long flight to Saudi a few things to know about Hajj. It is one of the five

pillars of Islam, meaning every Muslim must do it once in their lifetime. But that's only if they are able to because you can expect to walk at least

25 kilometers during Hajj. And it's expensive. I am paying about $12,000 to go there, and by there I mean Mecca, which only Muslims can enter and its

surroundings. I'll be showing you the different rituals there.

And now I'm finally in Mecca with Derrida and the Azhar, which are simply two pieces of unstitched clothing. Every man during Hajj must put on those

two pieces of unstitched clothing, whether they are rich or poor. They can no longer put on fancy clothes, perfumes, clip their nails, shave their

beard, cut their hair, fight or even argue. And you can imagine how tough that could be, especially if you're in the scorching heat, in an

overcrowded place for days on end.

(Voice-over) But I actually love that synergy about Hajj. Think about that for a second. Two million people of all colors coming from about 200

countries, all doing the same rituals and looking the same.

This is the most important ritual, the climax of the Hajj, so to speak. Standing on Mount Arafat. In just a couple of hours, the temperature will

reach 42 degrees Celsius or 107 Fahrenheit. It doesn't seem, however, that the temperature had taken away from the spiritual experience.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through text translation): The first thing I feel is this diving atmosphere. It gives me goosebumps.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through text translation): I prayed to God that I could stand on this mountain and he granted me this wish.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through text translation): It's the Day of Arafat. We have prayed for the whole world, for Senegal and the world.

DAMANHOURY: It is past midnight here in Muzdalifah, and people are already starting to head out by bus, but many others prefer to stay and then leave

right before sunrise, heading to the tent city of Mina. So I'll be sleeping here on the sidewalk with thousands of other pilgrims.

(Voice-over): I promised earlier to show you the stoning of the devil. OK, so pilgrims should have gathered pebbles in Muzdalifa, or sometimes they

are handed to you, and then head to this site to throw them at pillars, symbolizing Satan.

This can obviously be dangerous because of overcrowding. The Saudi government has since taken intensive measures for safety, including the

expansion of the bridge where the stoning happens into multiple levels with numerous ramps and exits to avoid overcrowding.

Today is finally the first day of Eid, aka feast. I just finished stoning the devil and I'm in route to the Kaaba for one more step before I get my

brand new look. And that's it. I just got my brand new look and fully shaved my head, which is actually something I've never done before. But

more importantly, I can now change into regular clothes.

There's also a ritual slaughter and distribution of the meat to the poor, but that will be done on my behalf. I'm going to be staying here for a few

more days before I head back to Colorado, but for now, it's official. I am Hajji, which is what you call somebody who completes Hajj. And for me, this

is indeed a very happy Eid. Maybe even the happiest ever.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[10:55:05]

GIOKOS: All right, Eid Mubarak to everyone celebrating and a wonderful story there.

Tokyo based ispace says it's U.N. crewed moon lander has crashed onto the surface of the moon. It's the company's second failed attempt to make

commercial space landing as part of a global race to the moon. Ispace says it's been unable to communicate with the Resilience spacecraft and believes

it made hard landing. The craft was carrying a four-wheeled rover and payloads worth some $16 million. Perhaps next time. It doesn't seem like

they're giving up on this mission.

Well, thanks so much for joining us for CONNECT THE WORLD. Stay with CNN. "ONE WORLD" is up next. From me, Eleni Giokos, have a fantastic weekend.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

END