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Trump To Supporters: "I'm Not Going To Be Nice"; NASA: Still No Return Date For Starliner Astronauts; Southwest Airlines Ditching Open-Seating Policy; Securing The Games With Lessons From Past Olympics. Aired 1:30-2p ET
Aired July 25, 2024 - 13:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[13:30:00]
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DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I will not cut one penny from Social Security or Medicare. And I will not raise the retirement age --
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TRUMP: --one day. I won't even raise it by one day.
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TRUMP: And you know, they're talking about -- he was talking about, she's talking about lifting the retirement age.
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BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: And?
DANIEL DALE, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: She's not talking about lifting the retirement age. I found zero examples of her doing so.
Both she and President Biden have, during this administration, strongly opposed proposals, mostly from conservative Republicans, to repay -- to raise the retirement age.
Now it is true that Biden, decades ago, as or as late as the 2000s, did support or expressed openness to raising the age. But as president, during this administration, even he has not.
KEILAR: So thin air, just out of thin air?
DALE: Yes. The "she" part -- or the "he" part, there is some basis on Biden's past. The part about Harris, though, seems made up.
KEILAR: All right. Alayna, Daniel, thank you. So much to both of you. We do appreciate that.
Still ahead, missions still not accomplished. That is the Starliner crew that has been hanging out in orbit for weeks, unexpectedly, as engineers tried to fix problems plaguing their spacecraft. We're going to bring you the latest update on when they might finally come home.
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BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: New today, NASA and Boeing admit they still don't have a clear return date for those two astronauts that got up there on the Starliner.
They're not technically stuck up there, but it sure seems like they might be stuck up there.
KEILAR: Yes.
SANCHEZ: Officials have insisted that Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore are not stuck.
KEILAR: That's right. Because there are ways they could get back. We're going to talk about that here in a second.
But they aren't, at this point, ready to commit to a return date yet. The astronauts have been in space now for 50 days on a mission that was supposed to last only a week -- about a week, I should say.
CNN's Kristin Fisher here with us as always.
This is the assignment that continues to grow for you, Kristen --
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KEILAR: -- as it does for Suni and Butch. And officials just held a press conference and there's an update. Yes or no?
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KRISTEN FISHER, CNN SPACE & DEFENSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, we got an update but we didn't get a return date. That's what everybody has been waiting for. It's what everybody has been hoping for. It didn't come.
Now, both NASA leaders and Boeing leaders say that they've made great progress on the testing that they've been doing on the grounds in White Sands, New Mexico.
They've been testing these thrusters that failed up in space on the ground. See if they can duplicate the efforts there. They say they've made progress, but not enough to give an actual return date.
And listen to this. One of the NASA leaders that was on the call, Steve Stich, he was asked, point blank, can you definitively say that these two NASA astronauts -- NASA astronauts, Butch and Suni, will definitively be coming home on this Starliner spacecraft?
Here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) STEVE STITCH, NASA COMMERCIAL CREW PROGRAM MANAGER: Our focus today, as Mark says -- Mark and I have been working for the last number of weeks -- is to return Butch and Suni on Starliner.
I think we're starting to close in on those final pieces of the flight rationale to make sure that we can come home safely. And that's our primary focus right now. We have contingency options. We put those in play. NASA always has contingency options.
We know a little bit of what those are and we haven't worked on a whole bunch, but we kind of know what those are.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FISHER: So even now, this many weeks in, NASA still saying that they can't definitively say that Butch and Suni will be able to come home on this Starliner spacecraft.
One more thing, you heard Steve talk about contingency plans.
SANCHEZ; Yes.
FISHER: There are other ways, other spacecraft that, in a worst-case scenario, could get Butch and Suni home. You've got the Russian Soyuz spacecraft. You've got SpaceX's Dragon capsule. Those are options.
But at the moment, they're going to continue with this testing and hopefully get these astronauts home on Starliner. Earliest would be likely mid-Augus. But they've got to get back by September because that's when the battery life runs out on Starliner.
SANCHEZ; A bit of an unplanned vacation -- not vacation -- a working vacation.
FISHER: A working vacation.
SANCHEZ: What of the work that they went there to do. They received this really great reception when they first got on. Is it because they we're fixing a key part --
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ; -- of the gear on the ISS?
FISHER: Yes.
SANCHEZ: And the astronauts, we understand it, had resorted to using bags to hold some of their pee, some of their urine --
FISHER: Yes.
SANCHEZ; -- because the crank -- something broken on the toilet.
FISHER: The pump.
SANCHEZ: They brought the pump in. Do you have an update for us on that situation?
FISHER: Yes. The urine replacement pump has been fixed. It's working. Bags of astronaut urine are no longer just piling up at the International Space Station.
So that's some really good news, especially when you have two extra bodies up there, then what you we're planning for, right?
SANCHEZ; Yes.
FISHER: The downside for poor Butch and Suni is that, in order to get that pump up to the International Space Station, they had to take some gear out. And NASA chose to take out two of their personal suitcases. In those suitcases were their toiletries.
So things that you would want for an eight-day stay, but things that you would definitely want for a several-weeks-long stay. Don't worry, guys, there are replacements.
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[13:40:01]
FISHER: So they have a stash at the ISS. But it's not like your -- it's not your toiletries, the brands you know and love.
KEILAR: So you don't have to borrow someone else's deodorant, is what you're saying?
FISHER: I -- let's hope not. Right? I mean --
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FISHER: -- I guess --
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SANCHEZ; Yes, a lot of questions for them. Hopefully, we will know when they're getting back soon.
KEILAR: Yes.
SANCHEZ: Kristin Fisher, thank you so much for that.
Still plenty more news to come on NEWS CENTRAL, including a big shift at Southwest. After 50 years, that airline is now ditching open seating. It's not the only shakeup though. We have more on those changes and why they're being made when we come back.
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KEILAR: It's really the end of an era for Southwest Airlines. The company is moving away from open seating and making a big shift to assigned seats. But that is not the only change. We have CNN's Athena Jones live for us in New York.
Athena, tell us about these changes and what's behind them.
ATHENA JONES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Brianna. Well, this shift from this approach of first-come, best-seats policy that Southwest has been known for, for all of its 50-year history, that's changing. It's a big change for this -- this low-cost airline.
And it's all about trying to earn more money. They're making this change because they are under pressure from activist investors who want to see a change in management. They want to see higher profits.
Southwest used to be the most profitable airline in the U.S. But that's not the case anymore. In fact, they just reported about a 50 percent drop in profit in the second quarter. And so they're facing higher labor costs, higher fuel -- fuel costs.
They hope that this change to assigned seating will bring in more money because it will allow them to charge a premium for some of the seats on their flights, just like their competitors do, just like United and American and Delta has been doing for years.
They're also going to be starting overnight red-eye flights for the first time ever. And the airline says this will help with efficiency because you'll be using planes more.
Southwest Airlines says that customers have been clamoring for these changes. They say that when unhappy passengers switched from Southwest to a competing airline, the number-one reason they give is this open seating plan.
Some people love it. Other people, it makes them very anxious because if you forget to plan for it, you could end up in the last row, middle seat, that sort of thing.
So this big change they hope will bring in more fliers and make them more appealing -- Brianna?
KEILAR: Very interesting.
OK, and when does all of this take effect?
JONES: Well, Southwest says we'll hear more about these changes in September. So we don't yet have a starting date. But we do know that when it comes to offering premium seats, though seats are going to have more leg room and so they're going to have to reconfigure the planes.
They say that those seats won't be available until next year, so until 2025. We should learn more though, in September about when these other changes are taking effect -- Brianna?
KEILAR: All right. As long as the flight attendants are still funny in their overhead announcements, I think we can understand some of these changes. Athena Jones, thank you so much.
The 2024 Summer Olympics officially kicking off tomorrow with the opening ceremony. But efforts to get the Paris games safe are well underway up. Next, we'll show you the length that organizers are going to, to protect fans and athletes.
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SANCHEZ: There are new safety concerns for Israel at the Paris Olympics. The Israeli foreign minister delivering a warning to French counterparts about intelligence that Iranian operatives and other terror groups are planning to target members of their delegation and Israeli tourists.
KEILAR: France has underscored its commitment to making sure the Paris games are safe and secure.
CNN's Isabel Rosales is looking back at the lessons learned from past games and immense security challenges in France.
First though, we want to warn you that some of the images in this story are disturbing.
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ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Summer 1996 --
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ROSALES: -- the eyes of the world are fixed on Atlanta, Georgia. A backpack is stowed under a bench at Centennial Olympic Park. And at 1:20 in the morning --
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ROSALES: -- a 40-pound homemade pipe bomb filled with nails and screws explodes.
UNIDENTIFIED ANCHOR: We have had word now of an explosion at the Centennial Olympic Park.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was just, boom. It was so loud it rang my ears.
ROSALES: Paul Merritt, now a security consultant with more than 30 years of experience in law enforcement, was on duty that night.
ROSALES (on camera): What was Atlanta like after that bomb went off?
PAUL MERRITT, SECURITY CONSULTANT: It was chaos. ROSALES: Munich, 1972. Atlanta, 1996. Beijing, 2008. They all had issues of violence, of terrorism. What is it about an event like the Olympics that draws in this violence?
MERRITT: I think it's because you just have a lot of eyes looking at you. If someone's going to want to do that, they want to draw attention to their cause.
ROSALES (voice-over): In North Carolina, FBI special agent in charge, Chris Swecker, lead the manhunt for the Centennial Olympic Park bomber.
CHRIS SWECKER, FORMER FBI ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIVE DIVISION: The after action on the -- on the Atlanta Olympics was pretty harsh. Very poor coordination.
ROSALES: So poor, police on the ground were told "too late" about this crucial 911 call.
911 CALLER: There is a bomb in Centennial Park.
ROSALES (on camera): Nearly 30 years later, you can still see the imprints of that nail-filled bomb. And the lessons learned from this act of terror would extend far beyond Centennial Park and the city of Atlanta.
(voice-over)l Swecker says since then law enforcement has harnessed new techniques and technology to better guard the games, like bomb detecting equipment, drones, cameras and AI.
SWECKER: I'd venture to say that -- that in 1996, we we're in the stone ages when it comes to prevention of a -- of an incident.
ROSALES: Looking ahead to security at the upcoming Paris games, French authorities say they will restrict public access to the perimeter around the games, employ an anti-drone protocol.
And have already slashed attendance capacity to the ambitious opening ceremony on the Seine, the first ever held by a river, by half for security reasons.
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AMAUD BOURGUIGNON, IN CHARGE OF AIR & ANTI-DRONE PROTECTION, PARIS 2024 OLYMPIC GAMES (through translation): We are ready to protect the Olympic games and to assure that they are a celebration for everyone.
ROSALES (on camera): What are some red flags that law enforcement would be looking out for?
MERRITT: We're looking for things that don't fit the environment, that don't hit -- match the baseline.
For example, a backpack that's put in the bushes, like we see right here. But this would even raise more red flags because clearly somebody put it here to where other people wouldn't see it. ROSALES (voice-over): With stakes so high, prevention and vigilance are more important than ever.
Isabel Rosales, CNN, Atlanta.
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SANCHEZ: All eyes will be on Paris for the opening ceremony this weekend.
Our thanks to Isabel Rosales for that report.
Plenty more news to come on NEWS CENTRAL, including President Biden and his meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu. He's pushing the Israeli prime minister to agree to a ceasefire in Gaza. We'll take you live to the White House for the very latest in just a few minutes.
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