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Obama, Pelosi Speak Privately About Biden, Campaign; Biden: Neurological Tests Show I'm in Good Shape; Trump Responds to Controversy Over Project 2025; Hurricane Beryl Leaves Texans Without Power and Sweltering Heat; Suspect in Crossbow Killings Has Not Spoken to Police. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired July 12, 2024 - 04:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[04:30:00]

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Max Foster. If you're just joining us, here are some of today's top stories.

U.S. President Joe Biden says he's still the best man for the job during a high-stakes press conference today. Facing questions at the end of the NATO summit, he said he's committed to finishing the job. But it wasn't long after that that the list of ranking Democrats calling for Biden to remove himself from the 2024 race grew to 17.

President Biden's news conference wrapped up a three-day NATO summit in Washington where he announced plans to supply new air defenses to Ukraine. CNN's Jeff Zeleny has more on Mr. Biden's closing remarks at the NATO summit and the immediate reaction in Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF U.S. NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: It was the moment that everyone in Washington was waiting for, President Biden's high-stakes news conference on Thursday night. The question, did it change any minds among anxious Democrats nervous about his decision to run for re-election? Talking to Democrats after the president's news conference, it is unclear that it did.

But one thing was notable. The president spoke with far less defiance and combativeness about his decision to stay in. He said he needed to work to allay the concerns of Democratic voters and he even said that he was open to his delegates supporting someone else should they choose to do that.

But he said again and again he wants to finish the job. He said he is not worried about his legacy, but he wants to continue working on the accomplishments of his first term. But did this change any minds?

There is reason to believe, at least in the early hours after the news conference, that it may not have. We're also learning that former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former President Barack Obama are playing a role behind the scenes in the future of this Democratic presidential campaign. We have learned that Obama and Pelosi have had conversations this week about where to take the party. Of course, many Democrats are asking them to step in to try and send some type of a signal to the White House. These Democrats, of course, are the ones that would like to see the president step aside. But the president, for his part, has many supporters as well. The Congressional Black Caucus, labor unions, and other key pieces of his coalition.

So as we end this historic week in Washington, the central question remains the same. Will President Biden keep running for the presidency? Now less than four months from Election Day, he says he will. But all eyes certainly on the White House today, now that that NATO summit is over. Nancy Pelosi, of course, said she wishes everyone would wait until that time.

Well, now that time is here. The question is, what will President Biden do?

Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[04:35:00]

FOSTER: Everyone's asking. President Biden says he is willing to take more neurological exams. As some of his party suggests, it could quiet concerns about his mental fitness. But he said he would only do it if his doctors recommended it. During Thursday's news conference, Mr. Biden reiterated that he's already taken three neurological exams whilst in office, with the last one done in February.

He also responded to a reporter question about comments he made on the 2020 campaign trail.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In 2020, you referred to yourself as being a bridge candidate for a younger, fresher generation of Democratic leaders. And I wanted to know what changed.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: What changed was the gravity of the situation I inherited. In terms of the economy, our foreign policy and domestic division.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Republicans, meanwhile, are busy getting ready for their national convention next week. It's being held in Milwaukee, not coincidentally in the battleground state of Wisconsin. That could be when Trump announces his running mate.

But ahead of that, the Republican candidate is having to respond to the controversy surrounding Project 2025. It was put together by the Conservative Heritage Foundation, which describes it as a roadmap for the new administration to quickly reorient every federal agency. That starts with a call to recruit and train thousands of loyal conservatives to fill federal government positions. Other points include reversing federal approval of the abortion pill, Mifepristone, eliminating the Department of Education and defunding the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which the Heritage Foundation accuses of being unfair to conservatives.

CNN's Steve Contorno looks at what Trump has to say about Project 2025 and who exactly is behind it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: When Donald Trump claimed he had no idea who was behind Project 2025, we decided to take a look. Who is exactly involved in this effort? It turns out a lot of people Trump should be familiar with.

140 people who worked in the Trump White House or his administration helped to write, produce, contribute or edit Project 2025's signature achievement, a 900-page playbook for a next Trump term. It includes people who reached the highest levels of his government, including six cabinet secretaries, four people who were appointed by Trump as ambassadors, many individuals who were involved with the execution and architecture of his immigration policies, as well as several high- ranking officials.

There are dozens of others who are involved with organizations that have been overseeing Project 2025, including his former chief of staff, Mark Meadows.

And when we took this information to the Trump campaign, they said, yes, we acknowledge that a lot of people who work for Trump have helped out on Project 2025, but they don't speak for Trump now and they may not work for him again. They said, if you want to know what Trump believes, you should look at his website. His entire agenda is posted there, as well as the Republican Party platform.

Trump himself tweeted overnight that, quote, I know nothing about Project 2025. I have not seen it, have no idea who is in charge of it. And unlike our very well-received Republican platform, had nothing to do with it.

He went on to claim that this is all an effort orchestrated by far- left Democrats to tie some of the more controversial policies from this Heritage Project 2025 effort to Donald Trump. Trump trying to keep it at arm's length, but obviously that is made more difficult by just how closely involved many of the people who work for him have been with this project.

Steve Contorno, CNN, St. Petersburg, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: More than 100 people have been rescued in Vermont from flooding caused by the remnants of Hurricane Beryl. The storm swept through the state on Wednesday. Emergency responders say they rescued by boat 118 people who were stranded. They also recovered a body from the floodwaters. Officials say they believe the man was in a vehicle that was swept away by the water. The storm started bringing heavy rains to north and central Vermont on Wednesday, which was the one- year anniversary of the historic flooding that hit the state last July.

Frustrations are mounting in south Texas, where residents are facing a combination of crippling power outages and blistering heat. Four days after Hurricane Beryl swept through the region, more than a million people are still without electricity. 879,000 of those are CenterPoint Energy customers. The utility company says half a million Houston homes and businesses may not have their power restored until sometime next week.

The outages have been debilitating for hospitals, assisted living facilities and water treatment plants in the area. Texas Governor Greg Abbott is ordering an investigation into the state's utility companies to see what issues arose in their response to the hurricane.

[04:40:00]

And there's little relief on the horizon with record high temperatures expected to continue across Texas. Here's CNN meteorologist Chad Myers.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, that's right. All those people without power there in Houston. Temperatures back up feeling around 100 for the next few days. And those temperatures aren't really going to go down anytime soon.

Now, that will change in the West, though. We've had all of this heat in the West where Vegas at 120. So now we're going to see a hot day today. A little cooler tomorrow. But then notice what happens by Sunday. We really lose a lot of this intense heat. You can see it really on the temperatures. The four day forecast here from Fresno from 111 down to 103. Now, 103 is still hot, but it isn't 111 or 115 where you've been. Even Bakersfield cooling down a little bit.

But Phoenix still more days in a row above 100. But by Monday, only 108.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Well, the extreme heat hasn't -- isn't just unpleasant. It can be dangerous. It can be deadly. Authorities across Western United States are reporting at least 28 suspected heat related deaths since the heat wave began on July the 1st. 14 deaths are being investigated in Santa Clara County, California alone. The medical examiner says two of the individuals were unhoused. That can pose an additional risk since people who may have nowhere to go to escape the heat are more vulnerable.

A toddler in Arizona died on Tuesday when her father left her in a car with no air conditioning on. And a motorcyclist died last week in Death Valley, California, where temperatures soar to 128 degrees Fahrenheit or 53 degrees Celsius. Now, a nation in shock and the community in mourning. British police have still not been able to talk to the man they say he murdered three women in an attack involving a crossbow. Details next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: U.K. authorities say the man suspected of killing the wife and daughters of a BBC sports commentator with a crossbow is in serious condition in a London hospital.

[04:45:00]

He's yet to speak with police. Kyle Clifford was found by British police on Wednesday after an overnight manhunt.

The victims were the wife and two adult daughters of BBC horse racing commentator John Hunt. Police responded to the Hunt's home in the town of Bushey on Tuesday night and found the women with serious injuries. All three died a short while later.

At the scene, Nada Bashir joins us now in London. I mean, it was a horrible story when we first heard about it, but the detail's even more horrifying.

NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, and that investigation is still ongoing. As you mentioned, Kyle Clifford hasn't been questioned yet. He is in a London hospital. He is in a serious condition, according to police. They found him injured following that manhunt in North London.

But, of course, this has really drawn tributes and shock across the country. Carol Hunt, her two daughters, Hannah, who is 28, Louise, 25 years old, are all found badly wounded.

FOSTER: They survived the initial attack.

BASHIR: Initially, according to police, but, of course, later died as a result of their injuries. And we are learning more details about this case as the investigation continues. There's no clear motive just yet, but several U.K. media outlets have reported that Kyle Clifford, the suspect in question, may have had a romantic relationship with one of the two daughters. The BBC suggesting that they understand that Clifford had a relationship with the youngest of the two daughters, Louise Hunt, who, again, was just 25 years old.

The police have said that they believe Clifford was known to the three victims. But, again, we are still waiting for more details on that. The police have yet to comment on any specific romantic relationship between Louise Hunt and Kyle Clifford.

But, again, this has drawn widespread tributes, not only from sporting figures, colleagues of John Hunt, again, BBC sporting commentator, but also from members of the government. We've heard from the Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper. She has said that the loss of three women's lives in Bushey is truly shocking and shared her condolences with the family and the community. FOSTER: Yes, but, I mean, the country's been really engaged in this story, haven't they? I mean, initially, it was the crossbow because we've had similar incidents in the past. We don't have a big gun crime issue in this country compared with other countries. But knives, crossbows, other weapons appear to be increasingly used.

BASHIR: And this is, I think, something which has really shocked the country is the manner in which these women were killed. Again, we're still waiting for more details. We understand that Clifford was armed with a crossbow, but police say possibly other weapons as well. So still waiting for more details on that.

But, again, a huge amount of shock, particularly when it comes to the rise in violence against women in this country, and this really underscores that.

FOSTER: OK, Nada, thank you.

The Rust film armorer who was convicted in the death of a cinematographer says she won't cooperate when called to testify on Friday in Alec Baldwin's trial. The lawyer for Hannah Gutierrez Reed, says she will rely on the Fifth Amendment to avoid answering questions. She was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter earlier this year in the death of Halyna Hutchins.

Witness testimony in Baldwin's trial has mainly centered on gun safety and the early investigation of the scene. Baldwin has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter and maintains he didn't pull the trigger. If convicted, he faces up to 18 months in prison and a $5,000 fine. We'll be right back.

[04:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: A new study highlights the outsized role behavioral and lifestyle can play in developing cancer. The study shows that close to half of cancer deaths in the U.S. could be attributed to preventable risk factors. CNN medical correspondent Meg Tirrell has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well this new study from the American Cancer Society looks at cancer cases and deaths among adults age 30 and older. And it estimates that 40 percent of cancer cases and 44 percent of cancer deaths could potentially be preventable. They say they're attributable to potentially modifiable risk factors.

Now, what are those risk factors? Well, the leading one probably won't surprise anybody. It's cigarette smoking. They estimate that that contributed to 19 percent of cancer cases and 29 percent of cancer deaths in this study.

The next is excess body weight followed by alcohol consumption. Also a big risk factor up there is exposure to UV radiation. The risk for skin cancer, of course. They also looked at people's diets, not eating enough fruits and vegetables or eating a lot of red meat or processed meat, as well as cancer-causing viruses.

Now, they found that the cancers that were most linked to these potentially modifiable behaviors, the top one is lung cancer, that connection to smoking.

The second is female breast cancer. There are links there both to excess body weight and to alcohol consumption. Skin melanoma, of course, from sun exposure, and colorectal cancer.

Now, the researchers told us that there's actually some good news here, which is that folks think maybe it takes a long time to reverse your risk for these kinds of cancers. But actually, changing behaviors, they say, can start to reduce risk pretty quickly.

So on a personal basis, it's the things we hear about all the time. Don't smoke, maintain a healthy body weight, cut back or stop drinking alcohol, exercise, and, of course, use sun protection.

But the researchers here also focused on the importance of things happening from a societal level, policy changes that can make it easier for people to live healthier lives.

For smoking, for example, they said the thing that's been the most effective in reducing smoking rates is making it more expensive through excise taxes. And they point out that a pack of cigarettes in Missouri costs about half as much as a pack of cigarettes in New York State. And if you look at cancer rates for those two states, they are dramatically higher in Missouri than they are in New York for lung cancer.

And so the takeaway here is there are things we can do to try to reduce our risks, but there are also things that need to be done on a bigger societal level to try to make things healthier for everybody.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: And stories in the spotlight this hour. Colombia beat Uruguay 1-0 to advance to the final of the Copa America in Charlotte, North Carolina. But the match was marred by touchiness on the pitch with seven yellow and one red card shown.

There was more back and forth after the final whistle. And then violence broke out by touchiness on the pitch with seven yellow and one red card shown. There was more back and forth after the final whistle. And then violence broke out in the stands. Uruguay's captain said players felt they had to go and retrieve family members for safety. CNN has reached out to the Uruguayan Football Association and the Charlotte Police for comment.

King Charles sent his best wishes to the England team as they advance to the final of the Euro 2024 with a late goal that beat the Netherlands 2-1. The monarch asked for the sake of the country's collective heart rate and blood pressure that the team try to secure victory early in the final and not resort to last-minute goals or penalty shoot-out drama. England will face Spain in Berlin on Sunday. Prince Harry received the Pat Tillman Award at the 2024 ESPY Sports Awards in Los Angeles. On Thursday, he was being recognized for creating the Invictus Games, a sports tournament for military veterans founded in 2014. Tillman was a university and NFL football player who served in the U.S. Army after the 9-11 attacks and was killed in Afghanistan in 2004.

The award was not without controversy. Tillman's mother was quoted calling the Prince controversial and divisive and said there were more fitting candidates for that role, although Prince Harry's team, I think, would point out that the ESPY said there were a lot of Tillman supporters who very much were behind the way that was awarded. And certainly there are lots of people that are big fans of the Invictus Games, at least even some critics of Prince Harry.

But thank you for joining me here on CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Max Foster in London. CNN THIS MORNING is up next after a short break.

END