By Clare Duffy, CNN

New York (CNN) — A California mom says she was scammed out of thousands of dollars this month after receiving a call that sounded like her daughter in distress. She now suspects it was an artificial intelligence-generated hoax.

She’s one of many who have been targeted by so-called “voice cloning” scams as AI tools allow anyone to create a convincing replica of someone’s voice with only a few seconds of real audio.

Americans lost more than $893 million to AI-related scams last year, including voice cloning attacks along with AI-generated phishing emails, romance scams and other hoaxes, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Scammers can mimic anyone from family members and friends to coworkers or professional services workers. Banks including the United Kingdom’s Starling and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia have warned customers to watch out for voice cloning scams.

Experts say AI voice replicas have gotten so realistic that most people can no longer reliably distinguish them from real human voices.

“For the everyday person, it is just not fair to expect them to be able to spot this stuff,” said Henry Ajder, an expert on AI-generated media who consults for governments and companies. “I struggle with it. Most people do.”

How do AI voice scams work?

Scammers can create an AI replica of someone’s voice using a short recording of their speech — often pulled from social media or an earlier scam call that was surreptitiously recorded. Social media can also provide a trove of information about family members and close friends who could be targeted.

Fraudsters will typically make it sound like the loved one they’re mimicking is in distress, purportedly having been kidnapped or in jail. Then they’ll urgently demand money in exchange for their loved one’s release.

“There was no time to think,” Gary Schildhorn, a Philadelphia attorney who was targeted by an AI voice scam mimicking his son, told CNN last year. “It was all, ‘I have to react to help my son. He’s in trouble.’”

In some cases, the AI voice may be more than just a single recording. Sophisticated attackers could use text-to-speech tools or “voice skinning,” which manipulate a scammer’s voice so they sound like the person they’re imitating in real time. Those techniques facilitate back-and-forth conversations between the target and the AI clone voice, potentially making the scam more convincing, Ajder said.

Hackers can also make it appear as if a call is coming from a known number through a tactic known as caller ID spoofing — so you can’t necessarily trust that a call that appears to be coming from your mom is indeed her.

How to avoid falling victim to AI voice scams

Strange pauses or vocal fluctuations were previously considered red flags that a caller’s voice might be AI-generated. But those signals may no longer be present now that AI has advanced.

Instead of trying to determine whether a voice is authentic, look for other general scam warning signs, Hany Farid, a professor at UC Berkeley and chief science officer at GetReal Security, told CNN last year.

Is the person on the other end giving a deadline or introducing a sense of urgency? Are they encouraging you not to tell anyone else what’s happening? Are they asking you to move large sums of money in unusual

By Michael Williams, Alayna Treene, Alexandra Skores, CNN

(CNN) — Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has become preoccupied with an idea to punish cities and states that do not cooperate with federal immigration enforcement — cutting customs staffing at their airports and possibly stopping the processing of international travelers all together.

But the ambitious plan is hitting turbulence: It has sent the travel industry and local officials reeling because of its disruptive potential, has been publicly opposed by a fellow Cabinet secretary, and has not yet been greenlit by the White House.

If “radical left Democrats” aren’t allowing federal authorities to enforce immigration laws in their communities, Mullin told Fox News earlier this week, “then we shouldn’t be processing international flights into their cities either.”

“They don’t want us to enforce immigration but they want us to process immigration at their facilities? Nothing about that makes sense to me,” the secretary said.

Airlines, for their part, have not commented on the plan or how close they believe it is to being implemented. If enacted, it would have huge implications for trade and tourism within the US, even if the administration decided to wait until after the upcoming World Cup matches. Cascading disruptions could affect large and small American airports in red states and blue states.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy criticized Mullin’s plan during a recent congressional hearing: “We shouldn’t shut down air travel in a state that doesn’t agree with our politics,” he said last week.

And while Mullin keeps mentioning the idea in media interviews, there are not imminent plans for such a move, two Trump officials familiar with the matter told CNN.

The push is seen internally as more of a personal desire of Mullin’s than one coming from inside the West Wing. One of the officials said Mullin has been “obsessed” with the idea since being sworn in as Homeland Security secretary in March to replace his ousted predecessor, Kristi Noem, bringing it up unprompted during meetings at the White House.

“The President loves having a team that is constantly coming up with new ideas but ultimately any policy decisions will be up to him,” a White House official said.

While Mullin has been widely viewed as a stabilizing force atop DHS after a chaotic year under Noem’s control, and has built up a lot of goodwill with the president, his airport plan could have significant and wide-ranging consequences.

Some Trump officials have privately acknowledged the havoc the plan could wreak on international travel, and the industry has made the same point publicly.

“Reducing [Customs and Border Protection] staffing at major airports would have a devastating effect on the airline and tourism industries, causing a significant operational disruption to carriers, travelers and the flow of international cargo,” Airlines for America, a trade association that lobbies for several major American carriers, said in a statement.

The US Travel Association, a national organization that advocates for all aspects of the country’s travel industry, said its representatives recently met with Mullin. The secretary “confirmed his previous comments that the administration is considering a withdrawal” of customs agents at some major international airports, the association said in a statement.

“U.S. Travel believes such a move would have devastating consequences for the travel industry and communities that depend on international visitation,” the statement said.

While Mullin has pitched th

By Davis Winkie, CNN

(CNN) — What happens to Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile, including the 970 pounds that it has highly concentrated to near-weapons grade, is one of the primary sticking points as the US and Iran have trudged through weeks of negotiations to potentially end the Iran war.

President Donald Trump has insisted that Iran must hand over what he calls its “nuclear dust.” Iranian officials have repeatedly said that the country has a right to a non-weapons nuclear program.

But what is in Iran’s stockpile, and what does it mean for Iran’s ability to build a nuclear weapon?

With the right equipment, the highly enriched uranium that Iran has could reach weapons-grade purity within weeks or even days, according to nuclear experts. And it’s enough for 10 nuclear weapons, international inspectors say.

Iran and the US are reportedly close to an agreement to formalize a ceasefire and open the Strait of Hormuz. But the question of what happens to the uranium would remain unsettled and a key part of subsequent negotiations, according to CNN’s reporting.

Those talks would likely focus on the nearly 1000 pounds of uranium purified to 60%.

“The US shouldn’t take a deal that doesn’t include removing the [highly enriched uranium],” said Eric Brewer, a nuclear materials expert for the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) nonprofit who previously oversaw counterproliferation at the National Security Council during Trump’s first administration and led Iran intelligence analysis for the Defense Intelligence Agency.

Building a nuclear weapon requires a significant amount of radioactive heavy elements, or what experts call fissile material. One such radioactive isotope, uranium-235, occurs in nature, but it makes up less than one percent of raw uranium ore that’s mined.

Enrichment concentrates the uranium-235 from raw ore and prepares it for conversion into weapons-usable fissile material. Iran enriched its uranium by converting it into a gas — uranium hexafluoride — and spinning it in a series of centrifuge machines in underground plants primarily at the country’s Natanz, Fordow and Isfahan nuclear complexes.

Iran’s near-half ton of 60% enriched uranium (and its estimated 405.9 pounds of 20% U-235) is believed to remain in gas form, as it was at the time of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s last verification in June 2025. Iran shut out international nuclear inspectors the following month in the wake of joint US-Israel airstrikes on its facilities.

Further enrichment to 90% purity, considered the threshold for weapons-grade uranium, would “only take days to weeks” if Iran has an operational enrichment facility, Brewer said.

The June 2025 strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, what the Pentagon termed Operation Midnight Hammer, was assessed by US intelligence to have buried much of Iran’s highly enriched uranium stockpile at Isfahan, but didn’t destroy it, despite administration statements that Iran’s nuclear program was “obliterated.”

Earlier this month Trump threatened “to go in” with force and retrieve the uranium should negotiations fail. CNN reported in March that military planners had reviewed options for such an effort at the Isfahan complex, assessing that it could require hundreds if not thousands of troops and risk a high number of casualties. In addition to bringing in specialized forces and equipment to handle the material itself, creating a security perimeter to allow those troops to work w

By Brad Lendon, CNN

(CNN) — After US President Donald Trump’s summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping earlier this month, much focus has been put on Washington’s support for Taiwan and US arms sales to its government.

On the first day of those talks Xi delivered a stark warning to his US counterpart – that Taiwan, the most important outstanding issue between the US and China, could become a “very dangerous situation” if mishandled.

Trump has delayed signing a $14 billion arms deal for Taiwan that was recently approved by Congress, calling it a “very good negotiating chip” in his dealings with Xi.

Meanwhile, acting US Navy Secretary Hung Cao said the deal was being delayed as the Pentagon made sure it has enough weapons for the war with Iran.

But Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said last week it has not been notified by the US of any delay in arms sales.

With the confusion and conflicting statements around the issue, here’s a look at the process and law regarding US military sales to Taiwan, the democratically governed island of 23 million that Beijing claims to be its own.

Xi has not ruled out the use of force to one day gain control of Taiwan.

The law

The US is bound by an act of Congress to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself.

In 1979, US President Jimmy Carter’s administration switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei — whose government was and still is formally called the Republic of China (ROC) — to Beijing, known as the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The move ended a mutual defense treaty between Washington and Taipei, much to the dismay at the time of the US Congress, which quickly passed the Taiwan Relations Act to assert its role in relations across the Taiwan Strait.

Congress thought Carter made a “bad bargain,” according to the Brookings Institution think tank.

“They felt that by giving into Chinese demands that he terminate diplomatic relations with Taiwan and end the mutual defense treaty, Carter had left the island profoundly vulnerable,” Brookings says.

The Taiwan Relations Act states that the future of Taiwan must be decided by “peaceful means” and that the US “shall provide Taiwan with arms of a defensive character” that will enable it to “maintain a sufficient self-defense capacity.

Last week, chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said “Our Taiwan policy remains unchanged, and the US continues to adhere to long-standing commitments consistent with the Taiwan Relations Act.”

While a US-China joint communique issued in 1982 mentioned Washington’s intention of a gradual and eventual reduction in its arms sales to Taiwan pending a peaceful resolution, Beijing has interpreted the text as a binding commitment while US officials have long disputed the notion — stressing that Washington had never agreed to set a date for ending such sales nor would it consult Beijing beforehand

The weapons pipeline

Since 1979, Taiwan has purchased tens of billions of dollars in US military systems, from big-ticket items like destroyers, frigates, jet fighters and main battle tanks, to smaller items like anti-aircraft, anti-tank missiles, computer systems and logistical support.

But few have made it to the island quickly.

“It is not unusual for defense sales to take years to complete, sometimes never actually meeting full delivery,” said Jeff Abramson, senior non-resident fellow at the Center for International Policy (CIP).

“Typically, arms are not already manuf

By Ben Church, CNN

London (CNN) — On a boiling hot day in England, Jordan Dawson walks into a London pub with a tote bag by his side. He plonks it on the floor, its contents rattling around inside, before he digs inside and places a pair of soccer cleats (or boots in the UK) on the table.

“These are for Antoine Semenyo,” the 31-year-old tells CNN Sports. “These will be going to the World Cup.”

On request, Dawson then takes out more goodies from the bag, each boot adorned in a unique design that makes the otherwise plain white shoes pop with an authentic flash of personality.

These examples, like the hundreds of others he has designed over the years, make up a portfolio of work that has endeared him to the world of professional sports and has taken him to places he never dreamed of when starting his artistic career from his bedroom.

Now, though, Dawson is a man in demand, designing custom footwear for the top athletes on the planet. Much of his best work has come in the world of soccer, with Dawson creating personalised designs for the likes of Kylian Mbappé, Marcus Rashford, Enzo Fernández and Gigi Donnarumma – to name just a few.

This weekend, the designer will be in Budapest for the Champions League final, creating a pair of boots in collaboration with PlayStation. But it will also be a full-circle moment for Dawson, who will get the chance to watch a player who was his first client many years ago, Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice.

How it all began

A life mixing with the stars wasn’t necessarily on the cards when Dawson fell in love with art as a child.

“I drew since I was a kid,” Dawson says. “I remember sitting in my grandma’s conservatory drawing cartoons, and then you would always find me in the art classroom. I studied art at school and I always put my extra hours into it, whether that was in lunchtimes or after school.”

Over the years, he developed and fostered his obvious talent, experimenting with several techniques – from animation to painting and multiple avenues in between.

He went on to study at London’s Chelsea College of Arts, focusing on fine art. While there he learned how to create hyper-realistic portraits, which initially seemed like his calling, but getting a job in that field isn’t straightforward.

There just wasn’t a well-trodden path to employment with a fine art qualification, leaving Dawson wondering where he would channel his passion. To make ends meet, he started working in retail at the Nike Store in central London.

It wasn’t a job that scratched his creative itch, but it did at least get him close to his other passion: sneakers. He would take some of the spare shoes home with him and use them as a canvas for his designs, quickly putting together a small portfolio of work which combined his passions for shoes and art.

Catching a break

From that point, he slowly built up the courage to show his work to organizations, pitching around 30 different companies for collaborations.

“There’s definitely been a lot of knocks along the way, but I guess it’s taking that risk and putting yourself out there, making sure that at least you try, I guess,” Dawson says, reflecting on his journey.

Eventually, he did catch a break, and from a source very close to home. While still working at Nike, he pitched to his own company and was invited to be a designer for a London Air Force 1 campaign in 2018. It was a pivotal moment that triggered a wave of other work.

It was duri