hello and a very warm welcome to our viewers joining us in the united states and around the world. i'm becky anderson live for you from jeddah in saudi arabia from where we are following president biden's trip to the middle east. >> and i'm christina macfarlane in for max foster here in london. just ahead on "cnn newsroom" -- >> i think any other president would have moved very quickly to try to prevent violence and blood shed in an attack on the

capitol. >> brittney was always a great teammate and that is why i'm here. we miss her so much. >> translator: the shield which was my only protection, i was lying on the ground all covered in glass. i didn't know if i would survive that moment and you can take a look, the atm machine is completely destroyed. it is just past 11:00 a.m. on a very warm morning here in jeddah. u.s. president biden will be here later today, but right now, he is preparing to meet with the palestinian authority president mahmoud abbas in bethlehem. no major breakthroughs are expected, although the u.s. is also announcing tens of millions of dollars for panhandle

hospitals, refugees and internet upgrades. mr. biden reiterating his support for a two state solution to the israeli/palestinian conflict, yet no apparent plans for reviving the middle east peace process. meanwhile the white house confirms that president biden will meet one-on-one with saudi crown prince mohammad bin salman when he is here in jeddah. thursday in injuries, mr. biden and yair lapid agreed that iran should never be allowed to obtain nuclear weapons. let's bring in cnn's hadas gold live this hour in jerusalem. as you and i speak, president biden speaking at a hospital in east jerusalem. let's just talk about what he has achieved on this, the first leg of his trip in israel. >> reporter: first leg of the trip was focused on the

israelis, he spent about a day and a half in jerusalem meeting with various israeli leaders. and for israel, it was important to show that the relationship with the united states still stays strong no matter what short of political chaos is happening internally in israel because yair lapid is now caretaker prime minister who actually only took over less than two weeks ago. and i'm sure israelis were very happy with what they heard, president biden talking about his deep rooted support, he called it bone deep support for israel, for israel security, for its right to defend itself saying you don't have to be a jew to be a zionist, he received the israeli president's medal of honor. did hear some sort of divisions between the israelis and the americans specifically on iran and how to prevent iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. president biden once again saying that he prefers the dip diplomatic route before anything else and still thinks that there is time but he won't give iran forever. but prime minister lapid right next to president biden on the

stage yesterday at the press conference saying that diplomacy and words just simply won't work and the only way to prevent iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon is to prevent a credible military threat on the table. there was some reassurances for the israelis because president biden did say in an interview with israeli channel 12 that they would be willing to use force as a last resort, this is a hardening of the language because the americans have always said that all options are on the table. about you really also top of mind for the israelis and the americans on this first leg of the trip was the relationship with saudi arabia. president biden after his visit here in bethlehem will head straight from tel aviv to jeddah. and they have just announced this morning an agreement that the saudi arabiians will now allow all israeli flights to fly over saudi air space. doesn't seem like a big deal, but it is a big deal when you think about the relationship between israel and saudi arabia. it would have been unthinkable a few years ago and this is very

much being seen as those small steps toward what the israelis hope will one day be normalized relations with saudi arabia same as they have with the uae and bahrain. >> cnn's hadas gold is in jerusalem. thank you for that. barack ravid from axios is joining me live from tel aviv. and i want to pick up where hadas left off. the white house praising saudi arabia's decision to open air space to all carriers. and as we've been reporting, this decision paving the way, the white house hopes, for a more integrated stable and secure middle east region which they say is vital for the security and prosperity of the united states. this has been in the works of course for months. and on a trip that is frankly lacking in big wins for the white house, this is certainly

one of them. what is the significance to your mind, what does it signal as far as the kingdom is concerned about the potential for fully normalizing with israel anytime soon? >> thank you, becky. well, i think this is a major and significant foreign policy achievement for both the biden administration and caretaker prime minister yair lapid who just assumed office two weeks ago and is now cutting this ribbon. and as you said, this thing was in the works for months. the white house has been negotiating quitely, between saudi arabia, israel and egypt on a much broader deal than just the overflights. the overflights are one part. the second part is the deal around two strategic islands in the red sea that are going to be -- finally going to be totally transferred from egypt

to saudi arabia and is needed to give an okay to this process which happened yesterday. only after israel gave its okay the saudis agreed to the overflights. and i think that the significance here is that this opens the way and creates this momentum that,you know, down the road, six months from now, a year from now, two years from now, get us to a whole new chapter of the abraham accord in some sort of a normalization agreement between israel and saudi arabia. this will be a roadmap. it is not going to be like this one giant leap from zero to 100. i think we moved today from zero to 20. and in two years time, i think that we can close this gap between 20 and 100, but it will happen very gradually. >> you make a very good point.

it is very clear that the white house has brought the idea of promoting israel's further integration into the region as a key narrative here. we are also looking at the consolidation of the sort of regional players in alliances or agreements with, for example, the idea that iran needs to be repelled, a regional alliance, against iran. and to that point, the bigger story here is that talk of regional security arrangements which could see the israelis integrated into, for example, air and missile defense systems. and we are talking about an integrated system with a number of key players around the gulf and middle east. again, your significance, the significance to your mind.

>> well, i think, becky, let's take a step back for a second and look at what the biden administration did since it assumed office. at the beginning in the first -- i think until september 2021, in the first eight, nine months, the biden administration did not really engage to getting israel and the arab countries closer together. this process started with the abraham accords which were broken from the administration. and for many months the biden administration was very cautious about this thing because it saw it as sort of a trump legacy and it wasn't sure how much it wants to go into this. but since the first year anniversary of the abraham accords in september last year, the biden administration really started, you know, putting its foot on the gas, starting to push this thing forward,s which is very, very positive. and as you said, it is not only

this issue of the overflights and the islands, it is the whole u.s. strategy in the region which is based on how do we get the arab countries, the sunni countries, to work closer together with israel on regional security so that the u.s. could be, you know, less involved with boots on the ground. how the u.s. can take, you know, frameworks that already exist like the u.s. central command that israel today is part of it, how can we use centcom in order to take the israelis, take the arabs and get them together in their exercises, in the same consultations, in the same exchanges of knowledge and intelligence in order to create the sort of, you know, alliance that doesn't always have to be a formal alliance where people sit in a room and sign a piece of paper, but an operational alliance, how to get the abraham

accords an operational alliance. >> i'll leave it there because unfortunately the technology is playing havoc with us. but you are making some extremely valid and cogent points and we'll continue to take a deep dive what the biden administration is achieving on this trip as we anticipate the u.s. president's arrival here in saudi arabia. for the time being, circumstance thank you very much indeed. well, we expect the u.s. president later this evening, he will be meeting with king salman here. and then a meeting with the crown prince and his other advisers tomorrow. christina, we'll see the u.s. president get together with the key leaders in this region. gcc, that is the leaders of the gulf corporation council, plus egypt, jordan and iraq.

really important times for this region on what is the u.s. president's first middle east trip. for the time being, let's head back to you in london for our other stories. >> thanks very much, becky. we know you'll be tracking all of that for us here on cnn. now to the investigation into the january 6 insurrection. a source tells cnn that washington police officer has confirmed details about the heated exchange between former u.s. president donald trump and a secret service agent when he was told he could not go to the u.s. capitol after his calorie. according to the source the officer who was in the moteorcae has spoken to the january 6 committee. we first heard about it from cassidy hutchinson who spoke under oath about what she was told. >> the president said something to the effect of i'm the fing president, take me up to the capitol now. to which bobby responded, sir,

we have to go back to the west wing. the president reached up towards the front of the vehicle to grab at the steering wheel. mr. engel grabbed his arm and said sir, you need to take your hand off the steering wheel. we're going back to the west wing. we're not going to the capitol. mr. trump then used his free hand to lunge towards bobby engel and mr. renato told the story to me, he motioned towards hisclavicles. >> and was mr. engel in the room when mr. orinato tell you this story? >> he was. >> did mr. engel correct or disagree with any part of the story? >> he did not. >> did mr. engel or mr. orinato ever after that tell you what mr. engel had said was untrue.

>> either ever told me it was untrue. >> a secret service agent now denies that trump grabbed the steering wheel or an agent, but cnn did speak to two secret service staffers who said that for more than a year similar stories had been circulating inside the agency about trump's behavior before and on january 6, this is as cnn also learns the u.s. secret service erased text messages from the day before and on the day of the insurrection. deleted after investigators requested them according to the inspector general, an allegation the secret service denies. and the january 6 committee member adam kinzinger tells the "wall street journal" the committee is still weigh ing ovr asking donald trump to testify and whether to subpoena mike pence or request a written interview. the committee has tspoken to to

aides but so far pence has given no indication that he wants to engage with the committee. only saying this back in february. >> president trump said i had the right to overturn the election. president trump is wrong and frankly there is no idea more unamerican than the notion that any one person could choose the american president. >> now, american basketball star brittney griner is back in a russian court today after thursday's hearing ended without a verdict. russian authorities accuse griner of smuggling a narcotic substance. nina dos santos is joining me in the studio. it is unlikely anything will happen to griner until there is a verdict. so when do we expect that to be? >> and you mean in terms of potentially getting her back to the united states. >> exactly. >> well, at the moment this is the fourth day of the trial. remember already last week she pleaded guilty to owningisters

were found in her luggage at the airport in early february. and it has always been suspected that she is a high profile political hostage if you like. but in the russian court system, essentially admitting guilt to a crime doesn't necessarily mean that the trial is over. so what we've got taking place today, we saw her in those pictures that we just put on air there is a moment ago being led into the courtroom, her handcuffs were taken off and she was put into the cage that we often see defendants in these trials. for the moment though, we know that this probably isn't going to be the end of it. we probable won't get a verdict today. what her team is doing is putting together oral and written submissions. yesterday we saw a coach of a rush is sian team giving a char

witness, and that is what we're seeing. but you're right, it is likely that this could be a pretext to a prisoner swap, but that could only happen once the trial is finished. >> we'll wait to see. thanks. shock and disbelief after horrific russian missile strike in ukraine. still ahead, you will see the exact moment when missiles hit the city of vinnytsia killing almost two dozen civilians. and it is finally official, sir lankan president has resigned. how that played out and the next steps in choosing a new leader. papast the doubt. past the pain. and past your limits.. no matter what, we go on.. biofreeze.

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in one second, sara. yes! will get a job offer somewhere sunnier. relocating in weeks. weeks? yeah, weeks. gotta sell the house. don't worry, sell to opendoor, and move on your schedule. yes! when life's doors open, we'll handle the house. we're getting reports of significant damage after a barrage of explosions rattled the city of mykolaiv, ukraine. its mayor says ten strikes targeted the city overnight, they destroyed multiple buildings and caused heavy damage to this hotel. two universities were also hit. those explosions in mykolaiv follow thursday's horrific mice still missile strike on vinnytsia. rescuers are still digging through the rubble looking for more than 40 still missing.

president zelenskyy called for russia to be declared a terrorist state. >> translator: this day has once again proven that russia must be officially recognized as a terrorist state. no other state in the world poses such a terrorist threat as russia. no other state in the world allows itself to daily destroy peaceful cities and ordinary human life with cruise missiles andartillery. >> we're joined by scott mclean who is outside a hospital treating some of the victims. this was a shocking loss of life. what is the recovery effort like there and any idea why vinnytsia was targeted? it is so far from the frontlines. >> reporter: you're right. we are nowhere near any kind of frontlines. and just 24 hours after the blast, we're seeing new security footage that shows just how shellshocked and surprised people were.

they were just going about their daily lives, walking through the streets or buying a coffee. we are nowhere near oel deoil depots or rail infrastructure. and so the reality is 30 minutes after the air raid sirens went off, most people did not think that anything would come down in this area. one of the victims was 4-year-old girl named liza. earlier in the day her mothered a posted a video of the little girl pushing her only stroller. only an hour or two later that this little girl was killed in that stroller. president zelenskyy mentioned this girl in his nightly address stressing the fapgtct that lizas just four years old. and he is calling on the international community to recognize russia as a terror state. his agent if this same thing happened in dallas or dresden, surely he would call it terrorism. the latest numbers are that 71 people have been hospitalized,

that is the official numbers. we know more than that have sought some kind of medical attention. we're at one of the hospitals where people have come and the hospital director says that people are in very bad shape. those are his words to describe the kind of injuries that we're seeing. i also spoke with another patient here, a soldier actually who is being treated at this hospital after being wounded on the frontlines and he said that lot off the victims coming in from the blast are doctors and nurses because as we know, one of the places that took the brunt of one of those missile strikes was a medical clinic that was still operating at the time. there are still efforts to search for any bodies that may be remaining, there are 18 people who are unaccounted for, yesterday we saw people going through with dogs trying to find the remains of anyone, but this will be difficult considering that they have had a difficult time identifying the people that they have actually found.

and one more thing, christina, we still don't have any kind of official word, any kind of official explanation for the russians as to why on earth they would target this kind of a civilian site. >> yeah, it is so tragic, so sad. scott outside the hospital there, thank you very much. after a turftumultuous week confusion, sri lanka's president is finally out. gotabaya rajapaksa resigned via email on thursday after fleeing to singapore and that resignation became official earlier today. not long ago sri lanka's prime minister was sworn in during a ceremony, he had already been acting as president after rajapaksa fled the country earlier this week. speaker of parliament says the process to elect a new president is under way and he will summon

lawmakers on saturday and reveal a time line for voting. earlier huge celebrations in the capital. ♪ protestors say the ousting of the president marks a victory over government mismanagement and corruption. let's bring in kyung lah monitoring the developments. obviously jubilant scenes, but the reality is that the country remains in economic and financial crisis. so what will happen next here? >> reporter: the political process has taken a step forward, but the prime minister now being sworn in in just the last couple of hours as the acting president. so what you are seeing at least as far as who is going to occupy the presidency now that he has been sworn in by a judge is there is some stability in the presidential office. there is actually a person who is there instead of a president

who has need thfled the country. so some semblance of stability at least for the time being. there is going to be now an election, a decision by the parliament on who will take that job full-time. but you are absolutely right, the big problem, the reason for all of this, which are the economic woes of this country, which are very serious, go beyond gist the mismanagement of the country. yes, there has been political mismanagement that has fueled the economic crisis. but those underlying problems still exist. there is a lack of fuel, food, medicine. inflation is skyrocketing. double digit at 40%. so there has to be some sort of monetary bailout. the anticipation is that the imf will come into assist. but without assistance, this is a country that will continue to

be very unstable. so whoever comes in next, that person has a very big job ahead. >> definite live an understatement. kyung lah, thanks very much for the latest there. all right. president biden heads to saudi arabia in the coming hours. he will meet one-on-one with the saudi crown prince. but won't say if he plans to bring up the murder of jamal khashoggi. those details are just ahead. health and welln ess, only the sleep number 360 smarart bed keeps you cool, ess, then senseses and effortlessly adjusts for your best sleep. and tells you exactly how well you slept, with yourur sleepiq score. our smart sleepers get 28 minutes more restfuful sleep per night. so, you can be your best for yourself and those you care about most. and now, save 40% on the sleep number 360 special edition smart bed queen now only $1,499. only for a limited time. i'm jonathan lawson here to tell you about life insurance through the colonial penn program. if you're age 50 to 85, and looking to buy life insurance

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that flight will coincide with saudi arabia's new policy to open its air space to all civilian airlines including israeli airlines. right now he is preparing to meet with the palestinian authority president mahmoud abbas following his visit to a palestinian hospital in east jerusalem. thursday mr. biden met with the new israeli prime minister yair lapid. iran's nuclear ambitions were a key topic, both agreed that iran must never have nuclear weapons. the white house now confirms that president biden will meet one-on-one with the saudi crown prince later today. some u.s. officials have told cnn that the president is likely to bring up the murder of jamal khashoggi, he was the journalist of course who was murdered after entering the saudi consulate in 2018. but when asked about it on thursday, mr. biden stopped short of promising to raise the

issue during his trip. have a listen. >> my views on khashoggi have been absolutely positively clear. and i have never been quiet about talking about human rights. the question -- the reason i'm going to saudi arabia though is much broader, it is to promote u.s. interests, promote u.s. interests in a way that i think that we have an opportunity to r reassert what i think we've made a mistake of walking away from, our influence in the middle east. >> with his trip to the middle east, mr. biden embracing one of donald trump's signature achievements, the abraham accords which normalized relations between easy really and several arab countries.

but he is taking a different path when it comes to the saudis. have a look. when joe biden arrives in saudi arabia on friday, don't expect to see scenes like this. it was then president donald trump's first foreign trip back in 2017 underscoring the importance he placed on america's relationship with the kingdom. >> it is a great honor to have the crown prince. >> reporter: but his successor chose to signal a different proposal. >> i would make it very clear we were not going to in fact sell more weapons to them. were in fact going to make them pay the price and make them in fact the pariah that they are. >> reporter: since taking office, biden has avoided directly engaging with the kingdom's de facto ruler mohammad bin salman, also known as mbs, over human rights violations. mbss that denied that he ordered the killing of jamal khashoggi

in 2018, but has said that he bears responsibility. but geopolitical challenges may have forced president biden to adopt a more cs conciliatory approach. he will be flying to jeddah, a flight never before taken by a u.s. president and a clear example of the improving ties between israel and arab states. first initiated by the trump administration and the abraham accords. >> remain seated for the signing of the documents. >> indepbehind me is where joe where meet with the leaders in the coming days. he is keen to provide support for further normalization efforts with israel and provide a unified front against iran as talks revive the nuclear deal continue to stall.

another key priority, energy security. russia's invasion of ukraine earlier this year and subsequent western sanctions on moscow have left the world short on su supplies. that means that washington needs saudi arabia and other gulf allies to increase oil production to help bring down prices at the pump and curb inflation at home. while the white house has confirmed biden's upcoming meeting with saudi officials will include mbs, they also announced new covid measures reducing presidential touch raising questions about whether the administration is trying to avoid the optics of a biden/mbs handshake. optics aside, president biden's visit here to saudi arabia will be key in resetting washington's relationship with its middle eastern partners skeptical of america's commitment to them. and may bring about a regional security arrangement in the coming months.

so while it is unlikely biden will be received like trump was, the stakes couldn't be higher for a u.s. president whose domestic agenda hinges on the success he finds abroad. ♪ joining me now here in jeddah is nic robertson. we reported in that piece that energy obviously a key driver for joe biden, not just domestically but globally at this point. if he's come to saudi to get the sa saudis, uae and others to start pumping more, he will be sorely disappointed. >> he certainly won't get a public statement saying that is what we're doing but i think the quiet message behind the scenes is that opec+ is and has been increasing its output and that

will continue to happen. so in a way he will get his message -- he will get his desires delivered upon there. but he will also probably here and an analysis of how the saudis view how the international oil market works and that is they can pump any amount of haextra oil but theret is the capacity refine it and they don't like to see themselves and push back strongly on this notion that they are a gas pump to sort out the world's problems particularly when they take a lot of heat on human rights issues. >> i was interested in an opinion piece entitled a new shape for us/saudi relations. this was a pes piece penned by lady that you and i know very well and she wrote that oil for security is now the past. as my nation develops, we can build a partnership around energy stability and regional growth. that will be the message that joe biden gets here. the saudis and other regional

leaders want to enhance the narrative, they want the narrative to not just be oil for security, although of course they want security guarantees at the same time. >> they want to develop their country. saudi arabia may be 30 years behind the uae in terms of development, in terms of attracting businesses. and -- >> they have much developed in the last six years. >> they have done a huge amount in the past six years. but the ambition is massive. some say it outstrips the real reach. what they are hoping for is to sort of reset with president biden. and to be able to begin to get beyond the issue of jamal khashoggi and beyond the calls for better posture and better reality on human rights and release activists in jail here, to get business investment for all those different investments that they want. their message from saudi right now is, you know, we're in the

oil business, we don't believe that you can transition out of oil as quickly as the world thinks you can, there should be a better conversation about it. but we are committed to being an energy supplier, but we're trying to develop technologies to be green energy, and plus in a host of other areas on cybersecurity, on ai technology. just across a raft. because they want that investment and that is why they want to get beyond the negativity. >> i feel the energy transition story is an interesting one because you do hear quite a lot of confusion here in saudi. when you and i talk to our sources, they tell us where we were being encouraged to announce these net zero goals, talking about just november back at the cop 27 meeting, so we are now seeing the rolling back of commitments on clean energy by europe and the u.s. as they of course face this massive energy

security issue. whereas in this region, the energy transition story has been embedded as pillars of growth. the uae and in saudi, these are technologies, this is a new environment. both saudis and uae see it as building for tomorrow. i'm being told i have to let you go. >> basically you'll create your own distinction if you don't change. that is what they are doing. >> nic, always a pleasure. thank you very much indeed. that does it from us for the time being, at least for this hour. i'll turn it back over to london for our other top stories. christina. parts of europe are suffering under another record breaking heatwave sparking several intense wildfires. we'll go to badly hit portugal for the latest after the break. and abnormally high temperatures are contributing to the flash drought currently

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a record heatwave is baking parts of southern europe. combine that with tinder dry vegetation and wildfires are breaking out across several countries including croatia where firefighting planes and troops were battling three major blazes. in france more than 6500 people in the southwestern region have been forced to evacuate. spain and portugal are also being scorched, thousands of firefighters were battling ten active fires on thursday. and high temperatures like this, 104 degrees fahrenheit, just one of the reasons why parts of the

u.s. are currently dealing with a flash drought, problem out by high temperatures, lots of wind and little rainfall. texas, oklahoma, missouri and massachusetts currently experiencing the drought which can quickly cause extensive damage to agricultural, economies and ecosystems. we'll have more on the european heatwave soon, but first let's go to the weather center where allison chinchar, these heatwaves happening now with more regularity, tell us what more that we can expect in the u.s. region and if there is any relief from these flash floods. >> we look at the overall map of the drought monitor, just released on thursday, and again, anywhere you basically see the darker colors, the orange, that wage color and especially where you see the dark reds indicating the severity of the drought across the u.s. and, yes, the states that you mentioned, massachusetts, areas of missouri and especially the

south central portion of the u.s., you not only have long term drought especially in the western half of the country but a lot of times it is the short term where you can go for several weeks in a row without having any rain whatsoever and then having the intense heat on top of it kind of exacerbating the issues that a lot of these states are going through. we do have rain that will be moving through the area, but for the most part it is really going to hit -- miss, excuse me, a lot of the areas that really need it the most. where we'll see it hit is mainly focused across the midwest and especially along the gulf coast region. but where it will miss is areas of massachusetts, portions of the southern plains where they really need to see the bulk of that rain. and the heat, one of the contributing factors there, and it is, it is well above average. we get it, it is summer, it is supposed to be hot. but in a lot of these areas these temperatures are 10, even 15 degrees above where they normally would be even for the summertime. you have heat advisories out for several states here across the

central u.s. because again, those temperatures are expected to get well above the average. dallas expecting to continue to see triple digit temperatures the next several days. kansas city, st. louis, maybe perhaps a little bit of a dip once we get to sunday over the weekend, but really that becomes from the fact that it is likely going to be some rain showers that keep the temperatures cool before they rebound right back up next week. >> a worrying picture. and similarly so in europe as well. i want to head over to lisbon. we heard portugal issued with a red warning yesterday. we're hearing the temperatures there pushing into the high 40s celsius. what is the situation like there today? >> reporter: they are pushing into the high 40s in many of the districts across the country. actually five districts still with the red weather warning, the country on a high state of

alert until sunday. and that is because of the combination not just of the temperature as we were mentioning but also the dry weather, the high winds there picking up from the east which, you know, all combined create this explosive cocktail that leads to many of the wildfires that we've been seeing across the country over the past few days. as you mentioned in the lead-in, there has been a dozen or so of those wildfires the past week or so. today a little bit less of those in the country, but still hundreds of firefighters out there battling these blazes. >> thank you both very much. and we want to take you live now to bethlehem in the west bank where these images have just come into cnn moments ago. u.s. president joe biden meeting with the palestinian authority president mahmoud abbas. ♪

[ playing of u.s. national anthem ] ♪ >> you are watching president joe biden there meeting with mahmoud abbas as part of his trip through the middle east following a trip to a hospital in the east of jerusalem this morning. the pair are due to meet and discuss various issues in the

hours to come. and we'll be tracking that right here on cnn as the president continues his trip, three day trip, through the middle east. we'll be right back.

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welcome back. golf fans have reason to celebrate as the 150th edition of the open championship teed off on thursday. but tiger woods isn't cheering. the three time winner of the british open has also cashot a disastrous 6 over par opening round. woods is still recovering from his horrendous car crash and leg injury and said he had his chances but didn't do it. woods is set to tee off in round two any moment now. and are you hooked on wordle? you try to deduce a five letter word in up to six tries. and now the owner, "new york times," is joining to play the

party game. they are rushing to market the game after they saw how much fun players are having with the online version. the board game will be released in october for about $20. and before we go, astronomists say they have discovered a mysterious radio signal that sounds a bit like a heartbeat coming from an unknown galaxy roughly a billion light years away. the sound is the first radio burst or frb super quick birss of radio waves from unknown origins, they usually only last millie m miliseconds, but the recent one lasted three se millie m miliseconds, but the recent one lasted three send s lasted three seeconds. scientists hope to find its origin. that does it for this edition of "cnn newsroom." "early start" is up next.

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good morning and welcome to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. it is friday, july 15th, i'm erica hill in for christine romans. right now president biden is in bethlehem meeting with mahmoud abbas. we expect to hear from mr. biden after that meeting, perhaps within the hour. after a visit to the church of the nativity, the church will board air force one for the two hour flight to jeddah where he is set to meet with king salman and his advisers including mohammad bin salman. let's go t