hello and a warm welcome to our viewers joining us in the united states and all around the world. i'm max foster in london. just ahead -- >> someone familiar with the stored documents told investigators that there may still be classified information at mar-a-lago. >> a nice positive news in this inflation report, the stock market really soared today. >> the white house took it as a good sign that it was moving in the right direction. >> this is the man the fbi

alleges tried to hire an assassin to kill former u.s. national security adviser john bo bolton. >> the deal with the growing threat that iran poses and not try to appease them. >> live from london, this is "cnn newsroom" with max foster. >> it is thursday, august 11, 9:00 a.m. here in london, 4:00 a.m. in palm beach, florida where we're learning about what prompted the fbi to search donald trump's mar-a-lago residence. the "wall street journal" reporting investigators were given an insider typical lettering them to more classified documents inside former president trump's florida home. evan perez reports now from washington. >> reporter: someone came forward in recent weeks to tell the fbi that there were likely more classified documents being stored at former president trump's palm beach club according to the "wall street

journal." the "journal" says that is what prompted the search this week at mar-a-lago. cnn has not confirmed the journal's report, but we've previously reported that there were months of discussions between the trump lawyers and justice department prosecutors and that in june, justice and fbi officials paid a visit to mar-a-lago to discuss possible classified documents that were still being stored there despite the government's view that they belong at the national archives. meanwhile inside the justice department, there is frustration that the department has so far said nothing about the search. trump and his allies have portrayed it as a siege and suggested without providing any proof that the fbi may have planted evidence. attorney general merrick garland has said that the department doesn't comment ongoing investigations, in part to protect the rights of people that are under investigation, and who haven't been charged. it is also part of a strategy to not tipoff possible targets of those investigations. but it is not uncommon for the

fbi to issue statements acknowledging a search when it is already public. and in this case, so far trump is the only one talking about the fbi search. evan perez, cnn, washington. the justice department is facing pressure from within to provide a public statement about their unprecedented search. on wednesday reporters asked the trump appointed fbi director christopher wray to comment. >> well, as i'm sure that you can appreciate, that is not something that i can talk about and i'd refer you to the department. >> now there are growing questions about what was found during the search and why trump wanted to keep it hidden close to him. here is what we know. fbi agents searched trump's personal headquarters and his offices back in june they looked at a basement area where boxes of documents were stored. agents asked trump to further secure that area which we're told was done with a padlock. one former trump staffer says the tip to the fbi was definitely an insider.

>> i know how mar-a-lago is laid out, so it would have to be somebody very close to him to know not only what was brought but where it is being stored. and knowing how paranoid the president was while we were in the white house, i can't imagine what things are like now. and again, he's got a very, very small circle around him. i don't believe even the staff of mar-a-lago would be involved in this. >> in the u.s. any informant or source goes through a process to make sure that they are telling the truth. former fbi deputy director andrew mccabe said the bureau did its part to make sure it had legitimate information before going to a judge to get a warrant. >> you can can only imagine the level of specificity and the level of confidence in the information that the bureau and the department of justice must have had before they took that after the to a federal judge to even consider. and in this case you would

absolutely vet any individuals who are bringing information to the bureau along those lines. you would absolutely have to vet that information and you would have to let the judge know exactly what you knew about this source and what their motivations might be and where it might be coming from. there is all kinds of ways that source could confirm the veracity of what they are telling you. they could maybe have provided photographs of information or specific information that could not have been, you know, essentially presented by anybody else who was outside the situation. so we can only imagine that there was a high degree of vetting and confirmation in what they presented to the judge because as we know, the judge read that affidavit and signed the search warrant indicating that he found it credible that there was probable cause to believe that there was evidence of a crime in that premises. >> meanwhile donald trump and his family are facing a major legal risk in new york. the state's attorney general is

investigating the trump organization's finances and a decision on an enforcement action may come soon. on wednesday, the former president showed up to answer questions in the civil case. cnn's sara murray reports on how it went. >> reporter: donald trump wrapping up his appearance after nearly six hours at a new york deposition where he pleaded the fifth which the former president once said was a move for lobsters. >> the mob takes the fifth. if you are innocent, why are you taking the fifth amendment? >> reporter: trump changed his tune in the case. part of a three year civil probe into whether the trump organization misled lender, insurers and tax authorities by providing false financial statements. >> for years they have been going after my company. >> reporter: i once asked if you are innocent, why are you take the fifth. he claimed everybody was a

target and if there was any question in my mind, the raid of my home by the fbi just two days prior to 24this deposition wipe out any uncertainty. i have no choice. the deposition coming just days after mar-a-lago's residence was searched. a soirs says authorities came to suspect trump's team was not being truthful and may have been withholding documents that he allegedly took with him when he left the white house. >> all of a sudden no notice, you know, they send 20 cars and 30 agents? >> reporter: the perilous week highlighting trump's mountain of legal troubles. >> they want to put me in jail. >> reporter: a constant frustration to jump as he eyes another presidential run. >> outrageous civil and criminal harassment in new york and atlanta of a person known as donald trump. have you ever heard of him? i just want to find 11,780 votes. >> reporter: in georgia trump faces an investigation into

whether his efforts to overturn the election there were criminal. >> we are going to look at everything until that investigation is complete. >> reporter: and federal investigators are probing efforts to block the transfer of power in 2020, including trump's attempts to try to stop the election certification and seek fake electors. >> no person is above the law in this country. nothing stops us -- >> even a former president. >> i don't know how to -- i'll say it again. no person is above the law in this country. i can't say it any more clearly than that. wer . >> reporter: we're also learning wednesday one of donald trump's attorneys said that he very badly wanted to testify because he was going to listen to the advice of his attorneys and he was not going to do so. as trump sat there for hours while he was pleading the fifth, he just said repeatedly same answer to the questions that he was pelted with. sara murray, cnn, washington. >> donald trump has a long history of saying only mobsters and guilty people invoke their fifth amendment rights against

self-incrimination. cnn spoke with former trump attorney michael cohen about the new york civil case. >> yeah, it is one of the first times i'm going to agree with him in a long time, right? only gangsters, mobsters and guilty people take the fifth. he always cries the victim when he knows that he is going to lose. the problem for donald and whoever it is that provided him the information, as you are well aware, pleading the fifth does nothing for you in a civil matter. this is not a criminal matter where you could take the fifth and you cannot make an inference that taking the fifth sort of puts you in the guilty position. in a civil matter it is exactly that, they now have the ability can which is what the attorney general wanted anyway, she has now the ability to go ahead and to presume that by not answering the questions that he is guilty of it. that is just how it works in a civil matter. >> we'll continue to follow this

developing story and bring you the very latest as we learn new details. we're keeping an eye on u.s. stock futures as well with just hours until the opening bell on wall street. on wednesday stocks soared after a key report showed a slowdown in u.s. inflation. the s&p 500 hit its highest level in three months. in the coming hours another new report will give us more insight into the state of the u.s. economy, the producer price index, a measure of u.s. wholesale and business prices is set to be released. last month those prices surged. wednesday data showed that consumer prices held steady in july on a month to month basis. year over year they increased 8.5%, but isthat is a slower pan the increase in june. when it comes to wages, average hourly earnings for employees increased half a percent from june to july, but wages are not keeping pace with the cost of feeding a family. the u.s. bureau of labor statistics says prices for

groceries that americans buy to eat at home have soared by more than 13% in the past year. some of the standard items are the most sticker shock including eggs which are up a staggering 38%, flour, chicken and milk all seeing double digit spikes. and ground beef, fruit and vegetables are now more than 9% more expensive. there are a number of reasons why it is happening. a deadly avian flu, severe drought and the war in ukraine have all driven up those food prices. there is some relief for drivers in the u.s. average gasoline prices have finally dropped below $4 for a gallon of regular. that is according to the american automobile association. a month ago a gallon cost nearly $4.17. u.s. president biden welcomed the news of cooling inflation and said the latest data shows the efforts to tackle rising prices are working. kaitlan collins reports from the white house.

>> reporter: for a white house that has been on defense for months over inflation, it was welcome news at the white house when they got the july numbers showing that inflation had not really budged there. of course prices are still in-credit bring high as they skyrocketed over the last year, but the white house took it as a good sign that it was moving in the right direction, not time yet to declare a victory lap though, president biden did go out of his way to say that he did believe that it was a positive indication of where inflation is headed. >> it underscores the kind of economy we've been building. we're seeing a stronger labor market where jobs are booming and americans are working and we're seeing some signs that inflation may be beginning to moderate. that is what happens when you build an economy from the bottom up and middle out. >> reporter: president biden also taking that moment to urge congress to pass the inflation reduction act, of course that was once known as the "build back better" bill. it looks a lot different a year lighter. a few trillion dollars less in spending, that is something that senator schumer and senator manchin negotiated and ended up

being the deal now known as the inflation reduction agect. because they know inflation is a number one concern for voters, it has been hurting president biden's poll numbers and democrats fear could hurt them in november. so they fincontinue to hope that moderates. kaitlan collins, cnn, the white house. just ahead, cities coping with an influx of migrants, why are they blaming the governor of texas. much of the u.s. could see rain in the coming days. pedram javaheri has your forecast. >> eastern u.s. recently hit with extreme temperatures, also a lot of thunderstorms. the energy now shifting back toward the west. monsoonal moisture in full effect here. i'll have the details coming up.

driving through standing water is never recommended and one woman is lucky she made it out alive. a broken water main had flooded the street in new jersey and

other vehicles had passed through safely. but as she tried to drive across the pavement suddenly gave way. despite being completely submerged she managed to kick the door open and climb to safety. and a nearly identical situation in el paso, texas also caused by a broken water pipe. bystanders and crews quickly pulled the driver out of the back window just moments before the car fell completely into the hole. look at that. stormy weather played havoc with travel on wednesday. the roads around the nation's capital were treacherous and it triggered hours long delays at the three major airports. and this brush fire in california created what appears to be a smokenado. the sam fire is now 60% contained and no injuries and no damage to homes have been reported. cnn meteorologist pedram javaheri has the very latest

forecast for you. >> good morning, max. across the southwest that is the big weather story here the next couple of days. monsoonal moisture has been in full effect producing beneficial rainfall. and next couple weeks still could see more rainfall in the area that could really use it. flood alerts across las vegas here for potential flooding from the thunderstorms that are forecast. it has kept the temperatures slightly cooler for this time of year and set to continue the next couple days. mckinney fire in northern california quickly becoming contained and also very little expansion of the fire as well. so not something that you see very often this time of year where fire weather is inhibited by beneficial rainfall, but that has been the case in parts of the west. around the east the summer variety storms popping up in the afternoon around the carolinas, portions of georgia as well. notice next couple of days much cooler weather across the

northeastern united states. temperatures that have been into the 90s quickly giving way to the 80s. even the 70s in store across boston. keep in mind with 96 degrees here just a couple days ago, long range forecast kind of brings the disparity of below average temperatures across the eastern u.s. while above average temperatures are expected to return across the western u.s. notice the atlantic quiet conditions, a tropical system that had a 40% chance earlier in the week is down to 10% here. also watching an area just east of this region potentially for strong storms to develop. but right now generally quiet conditions. highs around washington, d.c. around 86 degrees. >> thank you, pedram. relief from the intense heat and drutought is not expected anytime soon in spain, a major reservoir has almost completely dried up and a major bridge is now fully exposed. officials are concerned for what it will mean for the region's water supply.

and ship track along the rhine river, the water is just too travel. this is one of the worst droughts in centuries in europe i was reading, salma abdelaziz. >> reporter: absolutely. and we are here in london under an amber warning, so that the is the second highest warning because of the concerns about the heat in the coming days. that warning in place for the next four days. authorities thinking the temperatures will go into the mid-30s celsius, that is the mid 90s farenheit for americans like myself. but it is not about the temperatures, right, because we saw more extreme temperatures last july. it is about the drought conditions that you just mentioned. yes, in england the driest july since 1935, in france the driest since 1959. so these are really concerning figures for authorities not seeing rainfall here in weeks essentially in parts of england. and what that means is in

addition to the drought conditions which of course mean for agricultural, for industry, that that is a major concern. it also means that there is a likelihood, increased likelihood of wildfires. so again, remember last july when we had the record-breaking temperatures over 40 degrees celsius, what the result of that was is the extreme fires that were triggered by air and land, the london fire brigade said that they had their busiest day since world war ii last month again because of the arid conditions. and we're already seeing that take place now. in france the southwest of the country, 20,000 hectares there were ablaze. 6,000 people had to be evacuated from their homes. emergency services trying to stop that fire. and there is fears of course in the coming days with the rising temperatures that we could see more of that across europe and the uk. and again, these are cities, although these temperatures are not extreme, these are cities simply not built for the heat. people's homes are built to keep heat in, not let it out, that

means even when there are stay-at-home orders, people struggle to be at home because of a lack of air conditioning of course, that means emergency services are getting more calls. and then of course you have transport across european countries that again is not equipped for this heat. but when we look at the climate crisis, this is the new reality and cities are having to deal with this very difficult situation in which their infrastructure is simply not built for an increasingly warm summer. max. >> salma, thank you. stay cool. now, texas governor greg abbott is defending his decision to bus asylum seekers to sanctuary cities saying that they were going willingly. three buses with approximately 100 migrants arrived in new york city on wednesday, and that influx is putting pressure on cities such as new york that weren't prepared for the massive numbers. priscilla alvarez has more. >> reporter: this is the scene

in washington, d.c. as migrants arrive to the city from the u.s./mexico border. republican governors greg abbott of texas and doug ducey of arizona began sending migrants to the nation's capital earlier this year as an of aaf affront administration. now abbott is also sending them to new york city. >> just a mean and cruel thing that he is doing. >> reporter: migrants are placed on buses without plans for what happens when they arrive in these cities. it has led to a difficult humanitarian situation on the ground that is largely being addressed by shelters and nonprofit groups. this is the managing director of an international organization with offices in washington, d.c. the group has been trying to shore up resources to keep up with the pace of arrivals. >> we don't have the capacity to meet every bus, but we try to at loeast with at least half or more. we give them a warm meal, high green

green -- hygiene kits, we have shelter for up to 150 people with priority to women and children and then we're able to do tickets for a penrcentage of them. >> reporter: migrants have already been processed and are released while they go through immigration proceedings. d.c. mayor bowser has called in additional resources including she hoped the deployment of the national guard. >> we have a growing humanitarian crisis that we expect that the federal government expects is going to only worsen. >> reporter: but the pentagon declined that request arguing that it would negatively impact the readiness of the guard. the days' long journey originates from different points of the border. 37 buses have been sent to washington, d.c. from arizona carrying nearly 1400 passengers. and more than 100 buses have arrived to washington, d.c. from texas. abbott just began sending my

grants to new york city last friday. is the city under strain? >> yes. >> reporter: d.c. council member says that the district has assisted immigrants for years but texas and arizona have overwhelmed the city. >> truly this is a federal issue that is being played out through political gamesmanship by republican governors on the border states. >> reporter: abbott maintains his actions are in response to the administration's poor handling of the border. adams has condemned the texas governor's actions and recently issued an emergency declaration to procure shelter and other services. >> i don't think anything is more anti-american than shipping people on a bus 45 hour trip without any of the basic needs that they have or direction or coordination. the white house is responding to governor abbott's handling of migration crisis saying as we have done many times in response to governor abbott's repeated attempts to create chaos and confusion at the border, we'll work to manage

the consequences of this latest political charade too. including by continuing to support new york city and washington, d.c. through fema grant funding and more as we do in other locations. still to come, u.s. officials announce charges over an alleged assassination plot targeting two members of the trump administration. plus -- military drills are finally over, but china's push for reunification is not going over well in taiwan. we're live in taipei.

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welcome back. if you are just joining us, let's me bring you up-to-date with our top stories. the "wall street journal" is reporting an inside tip led the fbi to search donald trump's mar-a-lago residence. cnn can't confirm this report, but a former trump official tells us it was most likely a tip from someone close to the former president. and meanwhile trump invoked his fifth amendment right in a separate investigation in new york, he declined to answer hundreds of questions from the new york attorney general latitia james who is looking into his organization's finances. now to details of an alleged assassination plot targeting two members of the trump administration. the u.s. justice department announced charges against iranian national poushahram poursafi for allegedly trying to hire a hit man to kill john bolton. officials say it was likely in retaliation for the u.s. airstrike in 2020 that killed

qassem soleimani, commander of the revolutionary guard. prosecutors say poursafi tried to pay $300,000 for someone to kill bolton and $1 million for a, quote, second job. sources say former secretary of state mike pompeo was the second target. bolton said that he had been aware of the threat from iran. >> as the fbi warnings to me grew more severs as time went on, and the fbi was doing this pursuant to their process called duty to warn when they learn of a foreign threat against an american, eventually by the late fall of 2021, i asked if it is this serious, perhaps the secret service should be involved. and ultimately president biden made that decision and i appreciate it obviously. >> fred lightpleitgen is join um moscow. we're just learning about the details, but what more do we understand about the plot? >> reporter: apparently

according to the justice department it was a fairly elaborate plot and something that was not in the stages of just being thought of, that it was already actioned essentially trying to be taken. they said that shahram poursafi was in the process of contacting someone who was an informant of the u.s. authorities, offered around $300,000 for the assassination of john bolton and apparently wanted to do so in the parking garage of the place where john bolton lives. sent some photos of the address where john bolton was also asked the source who was actually then feeding all that information about more information about what john bolton usually does and apparently also said that there could be a follow-on plot, offered $1 million for that. and the u.s. now understands that that was the former secretary of state mike pompeo who was apparently the target of that plot. what we have now though is we also have reactions coming from the iranians, the iranian side.

this is the spokesman for ran's foreign ministry calling all of this a fairytale, saying that the united states is dreaming all this up. and also warning against any actions being taken against iranian citizens, obviously speaking about poursafi but also against the iranian state. we have to point out that the iranians have never made a secret out of the fact that they want continued retaliation for the qassem soleimani. and they said that their retaliation would be long term. now, we of course have more from john bolton who was on cnn last night. listen to more of what he said. >> it tells you what the regime is, it tells you about its character. it wouldn't surprise me. i think that there are a substantial number of people who are vulnerable to these iranian efforts and unfortunately, i'm afraid we may learn of more.

if this doesn't show anything about iran's willingness to try to intimidate its adversaries, i don't know what else to say. i think that we ought to put the could kibosh on these negotiations and not try to appease them. >> and of course the u.s. does say that there are continued efforts at heightened security for current and former u.s. officials, that the u.s. believes could be under threat from iranian plot specifically in retaliation to the assassination of qassem soleimani. but all this also comes at an extremely important time as the u.s. and other members of the jcpoa, the iran nuclear agreement and iran themselves try to revive that agreement which apparently is in the final stages. so certainly this comes at a very interesting time. >> fred, thank you. now to taiwan mocking china's latest push for, quote, peaceful reunification describing it as wishful thinking. calling for a one systems two

policy similar to the one used in hong kong, also not going down well in the south ruled island. china published its intentions in its so-called white paper in which it refused to rule out a use of force. china did end its aggressive actions around the island and taiwan wrapped up round two of its own military exercises a little while ago. let's bring in blake essig. it was interesting reading this white paper because it does show the long term plan that china has for the island. >> reporter: yeah, that has been the long term plan from beijing towards taiwan for a very long time, decades. so doesn't seem like a whole lot is new as far as the white papers are concerned. but the dispute between china and taiwan really does continue to play out after two weeks of increased military tensions around the taiwan strait, the

chinese state council issued this new white paper concerning what is called the taiwan question. in it china reiterates its proposal for that one country two systems model for unification and as you said is similar to what is being used in hong kong. while the paper essentially says that china won't rule out using force against taiwan, it does emphasize that the priority is to achieve peaceful reunification. of course taiwan once again rejected beijing's proposal calling it crude, clumsy, arrogant and full of wishful thinking. in response the government basically said that the 23 million people of taiwan will decide its fate and that they will not accept what an authoritarian regime envisions for them. here is taiwan's representative to the united states. she recently spoke with dana bash about china's position on

the self-governing island. >> i think china's behavior is reflective of a typical abuser in society claiming ownership of taiwan and trying to intimidate us from making friends. they are also trying to threaten friends from visiting us. we can't let this become a regular pattern and the people of taiwan deserve as we are a force for good in the region, we feel that we deserve to live the kind of life that we've fought hard to build in a free and open society. >> reporter: beijing's latest version of the white paper was released on the same day that it was announced that china's most recent military drills held here in taiwan over the past roughly six days were completed. max. >> okay. blake in taipei, thank you. now, russia claims explosions at a key air base in crimea weren't a setback, but

satellite images tell a different story. what we're learning about the blasts next. and later, kobe bryant's widow gets her day in court, the trial over the photos from the late basketball star's helicopter crash has started in los angeles. we'll have the latest. use ligh, not odors or chemical insecticides, to attractct and trap flying insects. they work continuously so you don't haveve to. zevo. people-friendly. bug-deadly. do you have a life insurance policy you no longer need? now you can sell your policy - even

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. recent explosions in crimea may have caused more damage than moscow has claimed. images show at least seven aircraft destroyed. four blast craters can be seen as well as burn marks and scarred vegetation. this video shows three explosions sending black mushroom clouds in to the sky on tuesday. we still don't know what caused the blasts. meanwhile ukrainian officials say the dnipro region has endured a night of shelling and

casualties. one district hit with 120 rockets. ukraine is also striking back. ukrainian military says it carried out air strikes on several russian targets in the south including in kherson. thic nic robertson is joining us from kramatorsk. a lot of this is seen as progress for ukrainians. >> reporter: certainly what happened in crimea at the air base there would definitely be significant for the ukrainians because the russians have operated there up until now as if they are beyond the reach of ukrainian forces. ukrainians are not saying what happened there. russians counter that it was ammunition exploding doesn't seem to fit the images, new video shows two explosions that are quite close to each other. so certainly that puts the ukrainians, if you will, in a stronger position. they almost undoubtedly are from all the video evidence that we

see and satellite imagery responsible for what happened at that airfield, precisely how we still don't know. so definitely a stronger position for the ukrainians. but the reality is that russia is continuing to hit not far from here, there is a town where seven civilians were killed yesterday. and russian continues to roll ever so slowly forward into that quite significant and large town. this city here kramatorsk was hit overnight by some of the s-300 russian surface to air missiles that are now used to ground targets. there is a constant level of activity all along the hundreds of miles of frontlines here. we went yesterday to see an artillery unit using some polish

donated -- suddenly action, ukraine kranian troops rushing the artillery out of cover. a 40-ton beast of battle. this datar getting russian positions almost 30 kilometers, 18 miles away. they shoot and scoot. the whole operation took about two to three minutes. they calculate they have got about eight minutes to get back under the tree line here to be safe from any return fire. there is a lot these troops like about their new kit, safety high on the list. it is so much better than we had before, this gun commander says. it is mobile. we're out of danger fast. so this is your command vehicle. >> yes. >> reporter: he runs the whole

battery. so you can see the whole battlefield here. >> yes. this is the -- >> reporter: it is all high tech. >> so where there is a cross, this is the target? >> this target, we shooted this target. >> reporter: he had two weeks tra training. >> to learn it, i would say it is -- >> user friendly. >> yes. >> reporter: poland gave ukraine 18 of the systems and they are buying another 56. two months in service, their accuracy making them popular. >> so worry big difference between these new guns and soviet old guns because the new guns got the new gps systems. >> reporter: each shot a better chance of hitting its target. these troops are really hoping this is him can make a difference, so far this war has

been fought mostly by artillery. russians massively outgunning the ukrainians. but even with the new guns, there is a problem. ammunition here is tight. do you have any shells? his answer, with a wry smile and chuckle, i'd like to have more rounds to send the occupiers back home. some of those troops, it was very interesting, yesterday they were telling us that since the u.s. gifted himars systems came into service here, they have noticed the number of attacks on them going down. they believe that is because hitting the russian ammo dumps is blunting russia's advance. it might be blunting it, max, but from what we see here, it is not stopping it. but that is the effort to try to hold the line, keep holding it. >> nic robertson in kramatorsk, thank you very much.

just in to cnn, london's metropolitan police say they have arrested anning aed isis jihadist on various offenses. he was detained wednesday evening upon arrival at the airport and will appear in court in the coming hours. again alleged isis jihadist arrested on various charges. kim jung-un declares victory over covid-19 in north korea. those close to the leader say he himself wasn't immune from what they are calling a fever, next. ? sadly, not anymore. wow. soso sudden. um, we're not abouout to have the "we need life insurance" conversation again, are we? no, we're having the "we're getting coverage so we don't have to worry about it" conversation. so you're calling about the $9.95 a month plan

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kim jung-un has declared victory for his nation over covid-19. according to state media, a claim cnn can't verify, but it came amid reports that the leader himself deeply suffered from a high fever during the outbreak and now his sister is calling for deadly retaliation against south korea for spreading the virus north. paula hancocks is with us from seoul. paula, make sense of these messages from the north.

>> reporter: well, max, effectively what north korea is saying, they have achieved in just 91 days what the rest of the world is still struggling to achieve in more than 2 1/2 years which is eradicating covid-19. let listen to exactly what kim jung-un said. >> translator: the difficult war against the disease is now over and today we are finally declaring victory. >> reporter: there are many questions from experts as to how or if this is even possible, but the numbers aside and the facts aside, this is a message that kim jung-un is giving to his people and is giving to the rest of the world. he was also seen maskless shaking hand, congratulating those officials that he said helped him to beat covid-19. now, we also heard from his sister also a high official within the system, and she said

that kim jung-un himself had suffered from a very high fever. to that we did see images on state run media of emotional members of the elite wiping eyes, crying to hear of his suffering. but also kim jung-un really playing into a message that they have played into consistently that kim jung-un is suffering alongside his people. max, you also had strong words for south korea once again blaming the south for introducing the virus into north korea, claiming that it was the hot air balloons which carry over anti-north korea propaganda into north korea that actually started the outbreak in the first place saying that there would be deadly retaliation against south korea if this happens again, and that they would respond by wiping out the south korean authorities. now, it is something that south korea has rejected. they have said that they do not believe this to be the case and they were threatening words from

the north. >> paula in seoul, thank you. a jury has been picked and opening statements have been heard in the case of vanessa bryant versus the los angeles county. the wife of kobe bryant is suing the county for taking and sharing photos of the helicopter crash that killed her husband and daughteriannagianna. bryant's attorney showed how they were spread to dozens of deputies and first responders disx. flighting the horrific event. defense says that they kept them from spreading online. the trial is expected at least two weeks. the cost of streaming continues to spike. disney plus has announced a $3 price increase coming this december, highest in its short history. a new ad supported plan will also be available. it comes amid a great quarter for the mouse adding more than 14 million subscribers and $21 billion in revenue for the company overall. disney says that the new ad based offering will help cater

to the diverse needs of customers and appeal to even more people. new image as of johnny depp show him starring in his first film since the end of his definitamation case against his ex-wife amber heard. the new role in the upcoming historical french drama loosely inspired by the life of the king's last royal mistress. the film is due out next year. thank you for joining me here. i'm max foster in london. early"early start" with christi romans is next.

here we go, it is thursday, august 11th, 5:00 a.m. here in new york. thanks for getting an early start with us. i'm christine romans. it was a tip from an informant that triggered the search of mar-a-lago, an informant whose identity remains unknown this morning. cnn has already reported that investigators from the fbi and doj met with trump lawyers at mar-a-lago in june. they were seeking information about classified material that had been taken to florida after trump left the white house. now, according to the "wall street journal," after that meeting someon