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Any Minute: Biden Speaks At Rally In Battleground Wisconsin; Biden Addresses Voters In Wisconsin Amid Campaign Doubts; No Relief For Days As West Coast Heat Wave Intensifies. Aired 3:30-4p ET
Aired July 05, 2024 - 15:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[15:30:00]
DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Sort of an OK performance in the interview, I'm not sure that actually saves Joe Biden at this point, because I think there are big questions among Democratic operatives, elected officials, the donor class, whether or not, even at this stage, a week of this conversation has done so much damage as to whether or not it is recoverable for him.
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: We also have, go ahead, Gloria.
GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: They're kind of tiptoeing around, in many ways, the elephant in the room. And a lot of them don't want to come out and say it right now, they'll say it privately, but they won't say it publicly. And I think it may just be a matter of time.
PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: Yes.
SANCHEZ: We are watching President Biden hug supporters and shake hands with them as he approaches the podium.
Before he begins speaking, I want to bring in Evan Osnos, who's standing by for us, just to get a reaction to the analysis we heard from -- from David about this cake potentially already being baked.
EVAN OSNOS, BIDEN'S BIOGRAPHER: Yes, I think that's very much the case at this moment, but we're right down to the moment here. But one person who knows that is Joe Biden, a lot on the line.
SANCHEZ: Let's go ahead and listen to the President.
(CROSSTALK)
CROWD: Let's go, Joe!
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF UNITED STATES: Thank you, thank you, thank you.
CROWD: Let's go, Joe! Let's go, Joe! Let's go, Joe! Let's go, Joe!
BIDEN: Thank you.
CROWD: Let's go, Joe! Let's go, Joe! BIDEN: Thank you. Hello, Wisconsin. Wisconsin, Wisconsin.
I got to thank somebody. Gaylord Nelson, I'm back. He first introduced me to Wisconsin a long time ago when I was a kid. I'm only 40 now, but I was a kid back then.
Sabrina, thank you for the introduction and for the volunteering for our campaign. And a special thanks to one of the best governors I've ever worked with in my life --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
BIDEN: -- Tony Evers. We've got a former governor, Jim Doyle, I work for him. Madison Rhodes, mayor -- mayor of this city.
And look, we got a guy who has a tough time when an election only gets 70 percent of the vote, Congressman Mark Pocan. Thank you. And so many local leaders are there, including the chair of Wisconsin Democratic Party, Ben Wikler. Ben. Hello, Ben.
Folks, did you have a good Fourth of July?
(CROSSTALK)
BIDEN: By the way, if you wonder whether Trump has it all together, did you ever hear how he explained the Fourth of July?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
BIDEN: When he was president? No, I'm serious. This is true. His explanation of how America won the Revolutionary War. I'm not making this up. He said in his Fourth of July speech five years ago, he said, George Washington's army won the Revolution by taking control of the airports from the British. Don't talk about me misspeaking. Airports from the British in 1776. It's true. He is a stable genius, this man.
My friends, I'm in Wisconsin for one reason, because we're going to win Wisconsin.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes!
(CROSSTALK)
BIDEN: Win it. And let me tell you how we're going to do it. You know the reason. We're going to do it because of you all in this room, to start with. We're going to stand up for women in America.
CROWD: Yes!
BIDEN: We're going to restore Roe v. Wade --
CROWD: Yes!
BIDEN: -- to all the land. We're going to stand up for the right to vote again.
CROWD: Yes!
BIDEN: We're going to fight for Medicare and Social Security and child care, elder care, paid leave.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes!
BIDEN: Always grow the economy. We're going to keep lowering the cost of prescription drugs and expanding health care for everyone.
CROWD: Yes!
(CROSSTALK)
BIDEN: Not just -- look, we're going to protect our children from getting weapons of war off our streets. That's what we're going to do.
(CROSSTALK)
BIDEN: The idea that more children die from gunshot wounds in America is so wrong. It's sick. It really is sick. We're going to keep confronting climate change. And (INAUDIBLE) --
(CROSSTALK)
BIDEN: -- the most important, we're going to save our democracy.
CROWD: Yes!
(CROSSTALK)
BIDEN: Now, you probably heard, we had a little debate last week. I can't say it was my best performance.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We love you, Joe.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's OK.
BIDEN: But ever since then, there's been a lot of speculation. What's Joe going to do? Is he going to stay in the race?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes!
CROWD: Yes!
(CROSSTALK)
BIDEN: Is he going to drop out? What's he going to do?
(CROSSTALK)
BIDEN: Well, here's my answer. I am running and going to win again. Because -- because --
[15:35:06] CROWD: Let's go, Joe! Let's go, Joe! Let's go, Joe! Let's go, Joe! Let's go, Joe! --
BIDEN: We're going to go. Folks, I'm the sitting president of the United States of America in no small part because of you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
BIDEN: That's not a joke, in 2020 you came through for me. I'm a nominee of the Democratic Party.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
BIDEN: I'm a nominee of this party because millions of Democrats like you just voted for me in primaries all across America.
(CROSSTALK)
BIDEN: You voted for me to be your nominee, no one else. You, the votes, the voters did that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
BIDEN: And despite -- despite that some folks don't seem to care who you voted for, well guess what, they're trying to push me out in the race.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No!
(CROSSTALK)
BIDEN: Well, let me say this as clearly as I can. I'm staying in the race.
CROWD: Yes!
BIDEN: I'll beat Donald Trump. I will beat him again in 2020. And by the way, we're going to do it again in 2024.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
BIDEN: I learned long ago, when you get knocked down you get back up.
CROWD: Yes!
(CROSSTALK)
BIDEN: And I'm not let -- I'm not letting one 90-minute debate wipe out three and a half years of work.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's right.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's right.
(CROSSTALK)
BIDEN: As the governor said, I've led this nation through the depths of pandem -- through the depths of pandemic to the strongest economy in the world, and that's literally the true.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
BIDEN: And I and you are not finished yet.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.
(CROSSTALK)
BIDEN: And you probably also noticed a lot of discussion about my age.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Yes.
BIDEN: I know I look 40.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's right.
(CROSSTALK)
BIDEN: I keep seeing all those stories about I'm being too old. Let me say something.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No one (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Inaudible).
(CROSSTALK)
BIDEN: I was too old. I wasn't too old. I wasn't too old to create over 15 million new jobs.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
BIDEN: To make sure 21 million Americans are insured under the Affordable Care Act.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
CROWD: Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
BIDEN: To beat Big Pharma, the first one to ever do that, and lower the cost of insulin to $35 (INAUDIBLE). Was I too old to relieve student debt for nearly 5 million Americans and grow the economy?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes!
(CROSSTALK)
BIDEN: Too old to put the first Black woman on the Supreme Court of the United States of America?
CROWD: Yes!
(CROSSTALK)
BIDEN: To sign the Respect for Marriage Act?
(CROSSTALK)
BIDEN: Was I too old to sign the most significant gun safety law in 30 years?
(CROSSTALK)
BIDEN: To pass the biggest climate bill in the history of the world, not here, in the history of the world.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
BIDEN: But then, my critics say, sure. But he did all that, but that was in the past. What about now?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
BIDEN: How about the 200,000 jobs we announced yesterday?
CROWD: Yes!
(CROSSTALK)
BIDEN: So, let me ask you, what do you think? You think I'm too old to restore Roe v. Wade to law of the land?
CROWD: No!
BIDEN: You think I'm too old to ban assault weapons again?
CROWD: No!
BIDEN: To protect social security, Medicare?
CROWD: No!
BIDEN: To get childcare, eldercare, for working families in need of the nation.
(CROSSTALK) BIDEN: To make billionaires finally start to pay something beyond 8.2 percent of their tax rate?
(CROSSTALK)
BIDEN: Let me ask you, you think I'm too old to beat Donald Trump?
CROWD: No!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's not.
BIDEN: I can hardly wait anyway. Folks, let's focus on what really matters. We're running against the biggest liar and the biggest threat. No, really? The biggest liar, and biggest threat to our democracy --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
BIDEN: -- in American history.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right. Yes.
BIDEN: That's not hyperbole.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE).
BIDEN: Over 150 presidential historians voted him the worst president in American history.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
BIDEN: No, the worst.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The worst.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's what he got.
BIDEN: As I've said before, he has the morals of an alley cat. He lies about the economy he created. The truth. He's one of only two American presidents who left office with fewer jobs than when he came into office. You know who the other was? Herbert Hoover. Fact. That's why I call him Donald Herbert Hoover Trump. He lies about the pandemic. He totally botched.
The truth is over a million people went on to die. He told us what to inject bleach in our arm. It wasn't serious. He lied about how great he was for veterans in his administration. The truth. He called veterans who gave their lives serving America.
And I was just in Normandy and on the beaches of Normandy and all through that area. And he -- he said, I have trouble saying this because my son died as a consequence (INAUDIBLE), who gave their lives. He called them, quote, suckers and losers.
[15:40:04]
CROWD: Boo.
BIDEN: By the way, I'll be damned. I'm glad I went with him. He can, I'll be damned. Let me talk about my son that way.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's right.
CROWD: Yes.
BIDEN: But how do we know he said -- how do we know he said this? And I'm not making himself. A four-star Marine General, his own former Chief of Staff was with him and he told us that's what he said. He's not the only former Trump -- Trump official warning us about how bad Trump is, including the former Secretary of Defense and even his own Vice President, they refused to endorse him. Says a lot about who Trump is and says a lot about what he isn't.
By the way, I couldn't ponder. I don't know, I just -- I guess I shouldn't say it.
By the way, I couldn't be prouder to have your support, and the support of our great Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes!
CROWD: Yes!
(CROSSTALK)
BIDEN: Trump is a convicted felon. Found guilty, 34 felonies.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lucky (INAUDIBLE).
BIDEN: Trying to hide hush money payments to a porn star. Another jury found Trump sexually assaulted a woman in a public place and has been fined $90 million for defaming her.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes (INAUDIBLE).
BIDEN: Ninety million dollars, they've only been banked about 20 times, but I don't know. This so-called great businessman owes over $400 million in fines after being convicted in New York State of business fraud. Already convicted. Fined $400 million. Donald Trump isn't just a convicted criminal. He's a one-man crime wave.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's right.
(CROSSTALK)
BIDEN: But Trump's biggest lie of all is he had nothing to do with the insurrection of January 6th. We all saw it with our own eyes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We all did. BIDEN: We saw where he sent thousands to attack the Capitol. We saw police being attacked, the Capitol being ransacked, the mob hunting for Nancy Pelosi, gallows set up to hang Mike Pence.
(OFF-MIC)
BIDEN: Let me ask you something. After what Trump did on January 6th, why would anyone ever let him be near the Oval Office again?
(CROSSTALK)
BIDEN: Folks, the issue of this election is what kind of America do we want to be? What kind of America do we want to be? We want to be a country of anger, revenge, and retribution. A country of hope and optimism and possibilities as we've always been.
CROWD: Yes!
(CROSSTALK)
BIDEN: I want a country where women have a right to make their own health care decisions.
CROWD: Yes!
(CROSSTALK)
BIDEN: Trump wants an America where abortion is banned and women are punished. I want an America where healthcare is a right, not a privilege.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes!
CROWD: Yes!
(CROSSTALK)
BIDEN: Trump wants to throw tens of millions of people who couldn't get insurance any other way than Obamacare, off of Obamacare.
CROWD: Boo.
BIDEN: I want America where the very wealthy begin to pay their fair share.
CROWD: Yes!
(CROSSTALK)
BIDEN: Trump wants to give the very wealthy a visual. Last time out when he was president, he gave me $2 trillion tax cut, creating the largest deficit any president has in one term. Now he's announced he wants another five billion trillion -- trillion not billion, $5 trillion tax cut after already leaving the largest deficit. CROWD: Boo.
(CROSSTALK)
BIDEN: If this -- I mean it's hard to make this up. I want to protect Social Security and Medicare.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes!
BIDEN: He wants to cut Social Security and Medicare.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
BIDEN: So, he can cut taxes for the very wealthy. I want to ban assault weapons and require universal background checks.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes!
CROWD: Yes!
(CROSSTALK)
BIDEN: You all heard him promise the NRA, he promised the National Rifle Association, I will do nothing about guns. That's what he said. I will do nothing about guns. And he means it.
I want January 6th insurrectionists to serve their full prison terms.
CROWD: Yes!
(CROSSTALK)
BIDEN: Trump wants to pardon you. Folks, you can't be pro- insurrectionists and pro-American at the same time.
CROWD: Yes!
BIDEN: This is so damn serious. You can't love your country only when you win.
(CROSSTALK)
BIDEN: Look, you've been standing a long time. Let me close with this. Ultimately, the American presidency is about character.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's right.
BIDEN: The character of the president who holds the job.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
[15:45:00]
BIDEN: Because with the immunities he's talking, the Supreme Court just talked about, it gets down to that. It gets down to that. It's about honesty.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's right.
(CROSSTALK)
BIDEN: It's about the President's decency.
CROWD: Yes.
BIDEN: Integrity. Do they respect people? Or do they incite violence and hate? Can they honor the oath of the Constitution and uphold the oath of office? Well, I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that Trump has failed on every one of these character tests. Everyone. And what's worse, the Supreme Court has just ruled that there are virtually no limits on the power of the presidency. I know it sounds bizarre, but that's what they ruled. A frightening decision!
CROWD: Yes.
BIDEN: According to the extreme majority of the Supreme Court, the president is now above the law. We just celebrated the Fourth of July, saying we will not be ruled by a king. And this Supreme Court he appointed proved this new law.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).
BIDEN: It's in a dangerous precedent, especially if Donald Trump has returned to the president, just think about it.
The second term, this next term, whomever is the president is going to appoint at least two new appointees.
(CROSSTALK)
BIDEN: The second Trump term where there are no limits. Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor warned us about that in her dissent in that case. She noted that based on a majority decision, Trump can take out his opponents. I mean, physically take them out, take bribes, lead a coup and be immune to ever being held accountable for it. If he did it while he was president, according to the Supreme Court.
CROWD: Boo.
BIDEN: I mean where the hell are we?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
BIDEN: So, he really could become a dictator that he promised to be on day one. For over two centuries, America has been a free democratic nation. And I'll be damn (ph) of the year 2024, just two years before our 250th anniversary of this na -- as a nation. I'll let Donald Trump take this away.
(CROSSTALK)
BIDEN: Folks, this is not hyperbole. This race is about our freedom. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
BIDEN: It's about our democracy.
CROWD: Yes.
BIDEN: It's about the very soul of America.
CROWD: Yes.
BIDEN: Are we prepared to fight for that?
CROWD: Yes!
BIDEN: I know I am. And I will.
(CROSSTALK)
BIDEN: And folks, I have never been more optimistic about America's future because the American people are decent, good, honorable, just to remember who in God's name we are. We're the United States of America.
I mean, think about it. Think about it in literal terms. And there's nothing, nothing beyond our capacity when we stand together.
So, let's stand together, win this election and exile Donald Trump politically. God bless you all, and may God protect our troops. Thank you (INAUDIBLE). Thank you.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: Quote, let me say this as clearly as I can, I'm staying in the race. President Biden in Madison, Wisconsin, acknowledging his lackluster debate performance last week, saying it was not his best, but saying, quote, my answer, I'm running and I'm going to win again. The president acknowledging that there are questions about his future at the top of the Democratic ticket, even saying they're trying to push me out as someone in the crowd as he was walking out unfurled a sign that said, quote, Pass the torch, Joe.
BROWN: Right. And so, the question is, as we watch his campaign speech there, Gloria Borger is how much did that matter? How much does that ease the concerns of those like that person there who unfurled that banner saying, pass the torch (INAUDIBLE)?
BORGER: Well, look, this was an energetic speech. He made the case against Donald Trump. And it was an audience that was with him a hundred percent and he was on prompter and did very well and made it very clear that he wants to stay in the race.
And when he said they're trying to push me out of the race, my question is and maybe you guys can answer it. Who is they? Is they the Democrats were talking about, the donors were talking about? The people who watch the debate who were upset about it. He wasn't really specific about that, but then he made the point. I'm not, which is a point that his wife made. I'm not going to let 90 minutes -- 90-minute debate wipe out three years of work, and then went through a litany and said, you know, they say I'm too old, but was I too old to create jobs? Was I too old to beat pharma? And then he went on and on and on about his accomplishments and -- and then talked about what Donald Trump would do.
[15:50:07]
So, I think you'd have to say this speech was defiant.
SANCHEZ: David, your own point (ph)?
CHALIAN: Yes. No, he -- he accomplished two of the things that he set out to accomplish. Show that he has the energy and capacity to wage this fight. And by I mean this fight, the contrast with Donald Trump. So, by -- by being energetic, that's one thing. Show he's got the energy for this, but taking it to Donald Trump nearly throughout the entire speech, other than, as you said, at the top Boris, the news of it that he wanted to get out is, I'm in this, I'm digging in, my head is down. I'm not listening to any of these calls to get out of the race. All of that was clear.
Now the question becomes, does a 17-minute or 18-minute energetic speech where you are, you know, reading from prompter and taking the fight to Donald Trump in the way Democrats want to see. Does that ease the concerns? I don't know that we know the answer to that. I mean, we're going to wait for a couple of things to happen here. Obviously, this interview is happening.
But I think the next two big things that we have to watch for here, the return of members of Congress to Capitol Hill next week after they've been home for the 4th of July recess, heard from a lot of Democratic constituents. And what that told them, especially the Democrats in battleground districts. And especially on the House side because the House for Democrats is actually within grasp of the majority this November. And if that is slipping away that is going to be a big, big area of concern.
And then the second thing is, these battleground state polls, we've seen a lot of national polls come out since the debate. Wait for next week in the round of, you know, does Wisconsin still look like it is within grasp? Or does it look like it's slipping away? Do states like Minnesota, New Mexico, New Hampshire, Virginia, look like they're actually becoming more competitive and not being put away and the battleground map is expanding. If that is the case, too, I'm not sure these 17 minutes of a very the energetic speech giving the kind of fight that Democrats want to see will be the only thing that he and the campaign in the White House need to do to quell those concerns.
BORGER: And -- and Hakeem Jeffries is going to be very important here in terms of the House because he's talking to all of his members, and he's going to hear from them about whether they believe that Joe Biden is going to drag them down. Now you hear this speech as David was saying, as I was saying, as energetic. He did a good job with it. But I think the reality is, how is it going to affect Democrats down ballot? And this is something Biden cares about. And we don't know the answer to that.
BROWN: We don't. And -- and what I'm wondering is, you know, we obviously see the polls, but earlier before we heard from President Biden, you said, David, that you're hearing from your sources that basically the cake is baked, right? And you see someone there with that banner that they unfurled saying, pass the torch. And I'm wondering how prevalent is that sentiment among (INAUDIBLE) --
CHALIAN: And I want to be clear when I say the cake is baked, I don't think that that's Joe Biden's perspective obviously, right?
BROWN: Clearly not.
(CROSSTALK)
CHALIAN: And he's the decider on this.
BROWN: Right.
SANCHEZ: Right.
CHALIAN: Right? I am -- what I'm describing is what these Democratic donors, campaign operatives, elected officials in the last 24 hours of conversations have been saying to me, obviously all eager to watch today and see this interview. But that has been the totality of the kind of conversation that I've been hearing from those folks is, is raising the question. Even with a good speech, even if he has a decent interview, is this actually a recoverable candidacy to be in contention with Donald Trump?
And quite frankly, you asked Gerry Connolly, that earlier Democratic member from Virginia, and he said, we don't know the answer to that.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
CHALIAN: That doesn't sound like ringing confidence to me in this moment.
SANCHEZ: To that point, another thing Connolly said that I found interesting is that he had not seeing the outreach that he would have liked to rank and file members, not only from the White House, but from the campaign to get consensus.
Quickly, we have Evan Osnos with us. He's been standing by.
Evan, how much do you think this speech matters in the calculus of Biden's decision? Because obviously it was a fiery speech, but we saw him give one in North Carolina a week ago. It was only about 20 minutes. I can't imagine that there's 50 plus million people watching the Friday after the 4th of July. The way there were for the debate. How do you think these fits into the bigger picture? OSNOS: Well, it was a feisty speech in the top line. Of course, the thing he wants people to come away from this with is that he's not getting out. And it was interesting as -- as -- as Gloria mentioned, this question of who is he talking about when he says they're trying to push me out. You heard him making an appeal to the public in effect, to voters saying voters are the ones who put me here, voters and all these primary states.
So, in a way, you know, this is him Joe Biden saying, I understand, I recognize this is the moment of great peril for his candidacy, for his campaign. And, you know, in some ways, I think I heard him use a tone that he probably should have been using six or nine months ago when he talked about age, sort of embraced it, and he said was I too old to put the first black woman on the Supreme Court? You know instead of kind of dancing around the issue. Own it, own it early. Might not have solved this problem now but it would at least have changed the way in which this moment is now unfolding because it would feel like less of a shock.
[15:55:24]
I -- I think this doesn't change the game. He did no harm today. He performed well in the format but he has a long day ahead of him.
BROWN: Right.
BORGER: I think he was also trying to make the point and correct me if I'm wrong here, that I'm the nominee. I'm the one who was nominated, and nobody can take your votes away.
CHALIAN: Yes.
BORGER: And, you know, don't, don't forget that. Because if something like that were to happen, the people who want me to be the Democratic nominee would be disenfranchised. And you know, he didn't quite come out and say that, but that was his -- that was his clear implication here, which is, look, I'm the nominee, I got the nomination, fair and square. This is what the people wanted, and they're not -- they're trying to push me out, whomever they are.
BROWN: And I'm wondering, Evan as we run out of time, unfortunately, you know, we have, what David said about, oh, unfortunately we do have to go, sadly. Thank you all so much. We always want to go over, right?
Everyone, thank you. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: Nearly 140 million people will be baking in the scorching heat this holiday weekend, and all that heat is fueling the California wildfires.
SANCHEZ: Yes, this is the French Fire which erupted yesterday. It's burning near Yosemite National Park, forcing hundreds to evacuate. Meantime, the Thompson Fire also raging out of control, burning through more than 3,500 acres in Butte County. CNN's Natasha Chen joins us now. She's live from Los Angeles.
Natasha?
NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we are at a pool where people are desperately trying to cool off. This place opened at 11 a.m. And the first people were in line at 7:20. It is only 98 degrees here right now. And according to the CDC heat map, it is much more excessively dangerous inland in central California, but we want to show you some of the images and maps of where these fires are that you're talking about.
This is, of course, very dangerous fire weather. You have the French Fire. That's only 5 percent contained 843 acres there. You have the Thompson Fire. They made big improvements on that overnight, now almost half contained, and we're hearing that more people are now able to come back to their homes after first being evacuated.
And we're also hearing that there is a new fire today in central Washington state, which local fire authorities there say was started by fireworks. So just extremely dry and hot conditions. It's not just the temperatures that we might see reaching records or breaking records come Sunday or Monday, it's also the extended heat wave here.
[16:00:05]
The duration of this -- this past week, we've already seen a couple of heat related deaths. One 69-year-old man who died in San Jose, he was living on the streets, and a 10-year-old boy in Arizona who died while on a hike with his family, due to heat emergencies there. So, very dangerous for people. And a lot of folks, as you can see behind me, really trying to cool off.
SANCHEZ: Natasha Chen, thank you so much.
You can catch Pamela on "THE SITUATION ROOM" at 5:00. I'll be on "ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" at 7:00. "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts right now. Thanks for joining us.
