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CNN International: Israeli P.M. Netanyahu to Address U.S. Congress Later Today; V.P. Harris Hits Campaign Trail, Biden to Address Nation; Republicans to Target Harris Border Policy in New Attack; U.S. Attorney General and FBI Chief to Testify in Congress; Climate Protests Cause Disruptions at European Airports; Outer Bands of Typhoon Gaemi Reach Taiwan; Controversial Law Allow Japan to Deport Most Asylum Seekers; Olympic Torch Relay About to Reach Paris; Rare Misprinted Harry Potter Book to Be Auctioned. Aired 8-9a ET
Aired July 24, 2024 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[08:00:10]
OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWSROOM": Hello, everyone, and welcome to our viewers all around the world. I am Omar Jimenez and this is "CNN Newsroom." Just ahead, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will address a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress today, but some Democrats say they don't plan to be there. The 'Harris for President' campaign picks up steam as two top Democrats in Congress pledged support, but a rattled Trump campaign looks to slow her momentum. And social media is embracing Kamala Harris, the vice president, how Gen Z could give Democrats the boost they need to hold onto the White House.
All right, in about six hours from now, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will address the U.S. Congress for a record fourth time. Now, he hopes to shore up American support for the war in Gaza, but many of the families of Israeli hostages still held in Gaza are criticizing his trip with some saying he should have remained at home to secure a deal to release the hostages. Now, his trip comes amid an upheaval in U.S. politics. Though his visit was orchestrated by Republican leaders, many prominent Democrats like Vice President Harris and Senator Elizabeth Warren won't be in attendance for his speech.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA): I'm not going because Benjamin Netanyahu has led that region into a complete humanitarian disaster. He has put his own personal interests ahead of the interests of the people of his country and what he has done in Gaza is unspeakable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JIMENEZ: Now, Prime Minister Netanyahu is scheduled to meet President Biden on Thursday and former President Trump on Friday. CNN's Nada Bashir joins us now live from London.
So Nada, what can you tell us about the upcoming speech and what Netanyahu here expects to achieve? NADA BASHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Look, Omar, there is growing pressure from representatives and family members of those hostages still held captive by Hamas in Gaza for Prime Minister Netanyahu to strike a deal. They want that to be the focus of his address to Congress. In fact, we've heard from the Hostages Families Forum, which has said they want to see Netanyahu opening his address by saying there is a deal, and we have heard some optimistic notes from the Israeli prime minister.
We've even heard some signs of optimism from U.S. officials as well. It's understood that there is a clear framework on the deal that they are just hammering out those final details and technicalities. But as you mentioned, there is growing criticism of the Israeli prime minister back home in Israel and from the family members and representatives of those hostages still held captive, saying that he should be at home focusing on the return of those hostages, bringing an end to the war in Gaza, securing that ceasefire agreement.
Now of course, all eyes will be on his address. As you mentioned, we are already seeing backlash in Washington, D.C., not only members of the Democratic Party now choosing to boycott, to not attend the Congressional address by the Israeli prime minister, but we are also seeing protests as well. Of course, we saw protests yesterday, members of the Jewish Voice for Peace movement occupying -- staging a sit-in in Congressional building. We've also seen, of course, other protests taking place across the country and are expecting to see more today.
But of course, that growing backlash is not only centered in Israel and in Washington, it is global backlash. And of course, the U.S. has been vocal in pushing the Israeli government for a ceasefire deal to be struck. Now, at this stage, we've heard from President Biden speaking on Monday, he believes that the parties involved in this negotiation are in his words, on the verge of coming to some sort of agreement. The State Department has said that the gap separating those two is narrowing, that there are still some issues which remain, but of course, pressure is mounting, and of course, the situation in Gaza is only worsening as well.
If a deal isn't struck soon, we will be entering ten months of this war. That is ten months with hostages still held captive in Hamas, that is ten months with civilians in Gaza being killed on a daily basis. That death toll now topping 39,000. The U.N. warning that famine is spreading throughout the Gaza Strip and we are seeing the humanitarian situation worsen with now diseases spreading rapidly across the Gaza Strip. We are seeing continued airstrikes in southern Gaza as well. Of course, deadly strikes in Khan Younis, where hundreds, thousands even -- civilians have been ordered to evacuate once again.
So, it is a deteriorating situation. We are seeing mounting pressure from U.S. officials. Many have been careful to clarify that the U.S. maintains its strong relationship with Israel, that Israel continues to be one of the United States closest and perhaps most important allies in the Middle East.
[08:05:00] But again, we have seen those tensions mounting, particularly between President Biden and the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. They are expected to meet, of course, on Thursday, Netanyahu now also expected to meet with Donald Trump former U.S. president and of course, also with Kamala Harris, so important meetings taking place. But all eyes will be on that Congressional address later today, expectations around what he might say and of course, the reaction crucially from the Democrats as well.
JIMENEZ: And all of the very real dynamics that you laid out, particularly on the humanitarian front, playing out in the politics of who will attend Netanyahu's address. Surely, Nada Bashir, thank you so much for the reporting.
Now, the head of the opposition Labor Party in Israel is blasting the trip. Yair Golan posting on X saying, "Netanyahu went to the U.S. for an extravagant show in the middle of the war without a deal to return hostages." I want to bring in CNN Global Affairs Analyst, Mark Esper. He was U.S. defense secretary under President Trump. Good to see you. Thanks for being here.
Now, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken says they are inside the 10- yard line, driving toward the goal line in getting a ceasefire. That's his metaphor, not mine. But in getting a ceasefire and hostage agreement that would produce a ceasefire, how optimistic are you of a deal getting done at this stage? And what do you make of Netanyahu appearing before Congress without a finalized deal?
MARK ESPER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Right. Well, I was actually with Jake Sullivan, Antony Blinken this past weekend in Aspen and we talked about this, and both believe -- are confident that were within the 10-yard line, as you said, but they also note that often those last 10 yards are the most difficult. Look, I would say in some ways, we've been here before. There have been numerous proposals on the table for Hamas. At the last minute, they've raised the ante with asking for adjustments and amendments and so forth.
So we'll see, I mean there is hope that there will be some type of agreement, but my view has been that Hamas is not going to be interested in any deal that does not call for a complete ceasefire and the removal of all Israeli troops from Gaza. And I see the Israeli government, Netanyahu unwilling to go there yet. If you look, the polling shows that a majority of Israelis want to see no more Hamas in Gaza and they are very concerned about what might happen if Hamas is not dismantled. So, I think they are probably further apart than we would like, but we'll see what happens in the coming days.
JIMENEZ: And yeah, as you mentioned, just because you are 10 yards out, doesn't mean it's an easy process from this point forward. And obviously, look, Netanyahu's speech and visit, it's not coming in a vacuum here, especially politically. For him, there have been protests back in Israel at home. There have been fragmented sort of perceptions in the United States politically over how to receive his visit. And I'm curious just from a political standpoint, how sustainable is this for Netanyahu when many believe that he isn't doing enough on the hostage front to bring some of those folks home? ESPER: Well, first of all, I think this trip was far more important, two or three months ago, when it was first planned than it is today because, as you know, Americans are really focused on this race, presidential race. The Republicans are coming off a very successful convention and the Democrats are now enthused with Joe Biden stepping aside, Kamala Harris -- she's now what day three into a campaign, so really all eyes on the U.S. election at this point in time. I suspect that Netanyahu's visit will come and go, and America will go back to the election.
But look, that said, Netanyahu faces some difficult challenges back home. He's wildly unpopular. But there are two threads among the Israeli population, one, they want the hostages returned rightly so. That is probably first and foremost. But secondly, they want an end to Hamas rule and end to Hamas to whatever -- however, we define that. And in many ways, those two threads are counter to what a ceasefire might aim to propose.
So there is division there and this will take time. At the same time, Hamas is under increasing pressure, not just military pressure, but an increasing number of Palestinians are dissatisfied with how Hamas has conducted this conflict. So, that is another factor at play as well.
JIMENEZ: Yeah and I'm curious, just on one thing you talked about, because look, I mean, you are right. I mean, especially on the Democratic side of things, President Biden is no longer the expected Democratic nominee. It is expected to be Vice President Harris. How in your view, does that change the way President Biden, if at all, goes about conducting the relationship with Israel, especially as they face threats on multiple fronts here?
ESPER: You know, Biden has known the Israelis, worked with them for decades. He's known Bibi Netanyahu for decades. He has a very clear position in terms of his support for Israel. So, I suspect that won't change much. What I'm really looking for is how will Kamala Harris address this? She has elements of her base, as you discussed in the tee-up (ph), that won't be attending the speech today.
[08:10:00]
There are communities inside the progressive base that really not just don't like Netanyahu, but really are concerned about Israel and American support for Israel. So, I'll be curious to see, does she try and maintain the Biden position, or does she try and strike out on her own? And I think what you've got to keep in mind is, you can feel one way toward Netanyahu, again, very divisive figure at home and arguably here the United States as well, but an overwhelming majority of Americans support Israel.
It's our most important ally in the Middle East. It is the only democracy in the Middle East. And so, I think she's going to have a tough line to walk there in terms of those various positions.
JIMENEZ: Yeah and it will be interesting to see if she faces some of those same headwinds that even President Biden faced in protest during the primary, especially in a state like Michigan with a large Middle Eastern population there as well. Mark Esper, former Defense Secretary, thanks so much for being here. Really appreciate it.
ESPER: Thank you.
JIMENEZ: All right. Vice President Kamala Harris has come charging out of the gates in her first days as the presumptive Democratic nominee for president. She delivered a high-energy speech to an enthusiastic audience in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Tuesday, and she made it clear that fighting for abortion rights will be one of her major campaign themes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS, (D) VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We believe in reproductive freedom --
(CROWD CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
HARRIS: -- will stop Donald Trump's extreme abortion bans because we trust women to make decisions about their own body --
(CROWD CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
HARRIS: -- and not have their government tell them what to do.
(CROWD CHEERING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JIMENEZ: And the campaigning is in full swing. She's expected to campaign in Indiana today at an event for black women. But the major event on the Democratic side will be a prime-time address by President Joe Biden, his first time since he announced on Sunday, he was pulling out of the race.
Let's go right to CNN's Arlette Saenz with the latest. Arlette, so obviously, the big question we heard on -- in a letter format or online at the very least his reasoning here. But, what do we expect to hear from him tonight and what -- I think it is fair to say it is one of the biggest speeches of his career.
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Omar, I've covered Biden for about a dozen years now and it certainly is perhaps the most important and historic speech that he will deliver as he is set to explain to the American people exactly why he decided to bow out of this 2024 race.
Now, the president we are told started drafting plans for this speech shortly after he went public with his decision to not run for re- election on Sunday. He's set to deliver this speech in the Oval Office, a rare place for President Biden -- President Biden and other presidents to speak to the country. It will actually be the second time this month that he is doing so. Earlier, he had spoken about -- from the Oval Office about the assassination attempt against Donald Trump.
For President Biden, aides say this will really be an opportunity for him to offer a more fulsome explanation for his decision to exit this race. But also, it'll give him a chance to lay out what he wants to accomplish in the coming months. Of course, President Biden is now heading into a lame duck presidency, a period of time where it is often difficult for presidents to get much done, much crossed over the legislative line. But President Biden has insisted that he will remain fully engaged at the White House.
He still believes that there is work that they can do when it pertains to lowering the cost of childcare and elder care, trying to stop the proliferation of guns, also addressing climate change issues. These are all things that Biden could really lean into there. And then there is also the component of Biden insisting he will be out on the trail, campaigning for Kamala Harris, to try to get her elected in November. Advisers to Harris and Biden have already committed to holding joint events for them in the summer and fall; those plans are still coming into shape.
But really for Biden, there is --as he is trying to further cement his legacy, of course, he wants to see his own vice president succeed in this Democratic contest as she prepares to face off against Donald Trump. So really, this will give Americans a more fulsome opportunity to hear from President Biden himself about his decision to exit this race, a very personal decision for he and his family, as he has said, that he did so in order for to protect the interest and in the interests of Americans and democracy as well.
JIMENEZ: And it'll be interesting just to hear -- just hear from him audibly on camera in this particular context, obviously, and a very serious one. That is expected to happen later this evening United States time. Arlette Saenz at the White House, really appreciate it.
Now, obviously, the race for president has undergone a seismic shift here in the U.S. over the past few days and later, Donald Trump will hold a rally for the first time since his opponent changed from an 81- year-old man to a 59-year-old woman.
[08:15:00]
And during that event in North Carolina, the audience will likely get to hear his new lines of attack against Kamala Harris. Now, Trump held a conference call with reporters on Tuesday and said he is willing to debate Harris, suggesting he might be open to multiple face-offs. CNN's Alayna Treene has been following the Trump campaign and joins us from Washington.
Now Alayna, past rallies, Trump has used the same lines of attack on Biden that he knows will work, but he's got to likely change things up now with the new opponent, doesn't he?
ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: He does. And we are hearing him kind of test drive some of those attacks already, but we will definitely hear a flurry of them at that North Carolina rally today, I'm told. Now look, when Donald Trump steps back onto the campaign trail, it will be an entirely different race and an entirely different political landscape and one that seems it's destined to have him face off against Kamala Harris in the fall. And I can tell you, Omar, from my conversations with Trump's advisers, they are very closely watching what Arlette just laid out, which is the new surge in Democratic donations as well as enthusiasm in recent days.
Now, this rally tonight will be the first Donald Trump holds since Biden stepped aside and ended his campaign over the weekend. Now, to discuss some of those lines of attack, I do want you to listen to what he told reporters yesterday. He kind of test drove some of those during a call with them and I should note that this is the first call of its kind that he has held in this election cycle. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, (R) FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES AND PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Kamala Harris was appointed border czar, as you know, in March of 2021. And since that time, millions and millions of illegal aliens have invaded our country. And as weak on crime prosecutor in sanctuary jurisdiction of San Francisco, Kamala refused to seek the death penalty against anybody. I agreed to debate with Joe Biden, but I want to debate her and she'll be no different because they have the same policies.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TREENE: Now, a couple of things to point out there, Omar. One is a quick fact check, Biden never appointed Kamala Harris to be his "border czar." He did task her with handling diplomatic relations and long-term relations with Central America, but the overall responsibility for the border has always been on the Department of Homeland Security. And then I also just want to point out that the end there, him talking about wanting to still debate Kamala Harris is very interesting to note, I think we should bookmark that and see if that actually ends up coming to fruition.
I know there are conversations behind the scenes about whether or not that is a good opportunity for Donald Trump. But look, Trump's goal all is to really try and define Harris right now before what they think will be the entire Democratic machine starts giving her more momentum. Even though she is the vice president, in their minds, they argue that she isn't as well known and so they are trying to race against the clock to define her in their own terms.
Now, I'm also told that they do plan to use some of the same lines that they had planned on Biden, which is going against her for crime, border, immigration, economy, all of the issues were Donald Trump polls better. However, they also recognize privately that it is very unclear what this is going to look like. They have spent an entire a year-plus sharpening their attacks, spending millions of dollars on data and modeling, all to go after Joe Biden, an unpopular 81-year- old. And so this is -- this new dynamic, obviously, throws a lot of uncertainty for their own campaign as well.
JIMENEZ: Alayna Treene, thank you so much. Really appreciate it. Still to come, is the FBI becoming too political? That's what a group of lawmakers wants to find out and they are going straight to the top for answers. And in case you didn't know, it's a brat girl summer. If you're wondering what that is and why it involves Kamala Harris, we'll explain after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:20:55]
JIMENEZ: Now, if you went online to find out more about Kamala Harris after Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race, which is likely, there is a pretty good chance you were fed false info. A deluge of misinformation has been put out there in the past few days from crazy rumors, all the way up to doctored photos and that is where CNN's Donie O'Sullivan comes in. He's been tracking all of this and joins us now, live from New York.
Hi, Donie, what have you seen? Give us a sense of how sophisticated these deepfakes and altered images are in this election cycle, maybe compared to years past?
DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Omar, yeah. Look, I mean, there has been such a huge explosion in how we use artificial intelligence in our lives and how available -- widely available it is online. It's really easy now to make doctored images and videos in a way that just really didn't exist in the last campaign cycle. So, we are seeing some of that. For the most part, it's still pretty crude stuff, but certainly the capability is out there. But really what we are seeing about Harris when it comes to conspiracy theories is, it's just everything.
It's very clear that they're really trying to throw everything against the wall and see what sticks. Look, a lot of the folks that are pushing these conspiracy theories about Harris are hiding. They're trying to hide their racism better than others. There's even a birther (ph) conspiracy theory, a throwback to Trump and Obama where people are claiming that Harris, the current vice president, somehow isn't eligible to be president. But of course, that is false.
I do want to show you one image that's been circulating, just to kind of give you a sense of what's out there. As you can see, there is a real photo there on the right which of the vice president and the second gentleman, and then the fake manipulated image on the left that shows -- that purports to show her with Jeffrey Epstein. Of course, that photo is fake. So that's the sort of thing that's going out there.
But really, it's all part of trying to build this big narrative around Harris that she's in some way evil or some way unfit for office, using misinformation.
JIMENEZ: And I think it is fair to say that is not the last we are going to see of these images leading up to the election. Really quickly before you go, I mean, is there a partisan bias here? Is this really just stuff targeting Democrats or what are seeing maybe on the Republican side of things?
O'SULLIVAN: Yeah, I mean, look, there's a lot more misinformation and disinformation I think on the rise, just -- also a part of that because their main -- their candidate Trump pushes a lot of misinformation. But this is not something that's exclusive just two Republicans. And I think one good example of that is the recent attempted assassination of President Trump. If you go on Twitter, if you go on Threads or the other platforms, a lot of folks who are supporting Biden or now Harris, who are Democrats, and even some people I've met at anti-Trump protests last week at the RNC, there are people sharing conspiracy theories on the left about Trump's attempted assassination, as saying that in some way, Trump tried to stage this to get a photo op.
There is no evidence at all for that whatsoever, but that just kind of really I think gives you a sense where in this country, right now, people really don't know what to believe and a big part of this is because there's less trust in established mainstream media. But also, there's just so much misinformation online. And now, one thing that is also different from this campaign cycle to the last one is there's so many alternative media outlets that kind of present themselves as news outlets online, but really are just pushing propaganda and misinformation.
JIMENEZ: Yeah. And it's hard to understate the power of a viral meme or a viral tweet or whatever it is, into changing people's understandings or perceived understanding (inaudible) probably fair word. Donie O'Sullivan, really appreciate it. Thanks.
O'SULLIVAN: Thanks.
JIMENEZ: All right. Now, while President Biden, age 81, was struggling to win over younger voters, it seems his 59-year-old vice president and now presumptive Democratic presidential nominee is brat.
[08:25:00]
And that's a good thing in the world of Gen Z. Don't worry, we can all aspire to be brat. Here's CNN's Anna Stewart to explain what brat actually means.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Last summer, the world went pink -- buses, shop fronts and billboards. This year, pink is out and lime green is in. From cosmetics retailers, this now TikTok famous deli in Charleston, even London Zoo got in on the action. Charli XCX spawned this trend with the launch of her 'Brat' album in June. Slime green, basic font, it is irreverent.
STEWART: Am I surprised it has inspired a whole summer trend? Little bit.
STEWART (voice-over): You can look to music videos like '360' for inspiration, or get the definition from the artist herself.
CHARLI XCX, SINGER: But it can also be like so, like trashy, just like a pack of cigarettes and a Bic lighter?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
CHARLI XCX: And a like a strappy white top?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah.
CHARLI XCX: With no bra.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah.
CHARLI XCX: That's like kind of what it means (ph).
(LAUGH)
STEWART (voice-over): Beyond that, it is hard to really nail down what brat girl summer looks like.
STEWART: Do you know the answer to this question?
EDGAR WRIGHT, ENGLISH FILMMAKER: Charli XCX.
STEWART: Yes.
(LAUGH)
STEWART: You know. You know.
STEWART (voice-over): Stumbling upon film director Edgar Wright was worth further investigation.
WRIGHT: Charli XCX, there you go.
STEWART: Are you brat girl summer?
WRIGHT: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I hope so. Not today, I don't feel like I am today, but like the boots kind of (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: SPF in your girlies.
(LAUGH)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: SPF.
(LAUGH)
STEWART: What? What does that even mean?
STEWART (voice-over): This is just the latest micro-trend, recent ones include gorpcore, coastal grandma, and last year's tomato girl summer.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it has a bit of that if-you-know-you-know angle, like if you understand it, you want to buy into it. It doesn't guarantee viral success, but it is just very easy to hop on and people will enjoy it.
STEWART (voice-over): With engagement that easy, even politicians are having a brat girl summer. It was a bratty election campaign for the U.K. Green Party and now, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris is hoping slime green will appeal, and Charli approves.
STEWART: Going to be a brat girl summer?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh my God, thank you. You too, have a brat girl summer.
STEWART: Bye.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bye.
(LAUGH)
STEWART: I like brat girl summer.
STEWART (voice-over): Anna Stewart, CNN, London.
STEWART: Do you know what brat girl summer is?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.
(LAUGH)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JIMENEZ: Israeli prime minister makes a high stakes visit to the U.S. to try and shore up support for the war in Gaza, but not everyone will attend his speech to a joint meeting of Congress. We'll explain why, coming up. And it's just a couple of days until the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympic Games. We are live in Paris with a look at the final preparations. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:30:55]
JIMENEZ: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to address a joint session of the U.S. Congress in a few hours from now. He's going to be speaking to lawmakers who are divided over his handling of the war in Gaza. Dozens of Congressional Democrats are expected to skip the prime minister's speech altogether. Now, as for Vice President Kamala Harris, while she is expected to meet with Mr. Netanyahu on Thursday, she will be absent from today's address. Now, her team says she has a previously scheduled event, but it is a decision being criticized by House Speaker Mike Johnson.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), SPEAKER OF THE UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: It is outrageous to me and inexcusable that as the leader mentioned, that Kamala Harris is boycotting this joint session. This is an historic moment. It is an important moment for the country, for all the reasons we've said. The gravity of the situation cannot be overstated. And yet, Kamala Harris will abandon her seat. As you all know, as the vice president and as serving as the president of the Senate, she is supposed to be seated next to me at the rostrum. She will not be there because she refuses to attend. She needs to be held accountable for that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JIMENEZ: CNN's Lauren Fox has more on the prime minister's visit.
LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Omar, this is a really high-stakes opportunity for Benjamin Netanyahu. A lot of members of Congress who are going to be attending this address, including some Republicans, are going to be watching to see whether or not he has a clear plan for how to get the hostages home. That is something that I have heard from Republicans and Democrats in the days leading up to this address, they want to hear from him.
I talked to yesterday to Republican Joni Ernst. She is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and she said that she needs to hear him clearly articulate a plan forward, not just to get hostages home, but also to start to bring this conflict to an end. Meanwhile, there are many Democrats who are not going to be attending this address at all. We know of at least 80 Democrats, more than that at this moment, who plan to boycott it, including Pramila Jayapal. She is the leader of the Progressive Caucus and here is what she said in a statement about her plans today.
She said, instead of attending Netanyahu's address, I will attend a panel discussion led by the Center for American Progress and other organizations on the path to peace. This event will feature a Palestinian leader, a Jewish Israeli leader and a former IDF soldier, all of whom are dedicated to finding a path toward peace and security. We also heard yesterday on the Senate floor, a number of Democrats giving speeches about why they were not attending this address, including Independent Senator Bernie Sanders.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT): It will be the first time in American history that a war criminal has been given that honor. Frankly, this invitation to Netanyahu is a disgrace and something that we will look back on with regret. I hope that for one second, the members who attend will focus just for a second on the starving children in Gaza. I hope while they applaud that they will think about the hundreds of aid workers killed, the dozens of hospitals bombed, the housing destroyed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOX: Another thing to keep a close eye on is the speaker of the house, who was responsible for organizing and getting Benjamin Netanyahu to Washington for this address, Omar. It is going to be really interesting to see the speaker's role here. Obviously, it is very important to many members of his conference that he asked and invited Netanyahu to attend today. JIMENEZ: Lauren Fox, thank you. Republican leaders, though, are looking for angles to attack Kamala Harris, saying they want to focus on policy. That's after comments though like this one from Republican Congressman Tim Burchett, earlier in the week, unleashed a backlash.
[08:35:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. TIM BURCHETT (R-TN): 100 percent, she was a DEI hire.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JIMENEZ: And to be clear, over her decades-long career, she has been elected by U.S. citizens for much of her career to this point, not hired. But regardless, DEI for context stands for diversity, equity and inclusion. And already, the vice president is facing Republican criticism over her work on immigration. So, joining me now is Priscilla Alvarez in Washington, D.C.
Priscilla, as I understand, you have some new reporting on a GOP memo circulating. What do you know?
PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Omar, the Republicans are really going to lean into immigration and the border when it comes to attacking Vice President Kamala Harris. It is something that they have been doing since 2021, but perhaps less so over the last year. Now, that was the year that the vice president was tapped by President Biden to tackle the root causes of migration in Central America. The reason he did that at that time was because, in 2021, there was an influx of unaccompanied migrant children and they were coming from those three countries.
So, he looked to his vice president to try to help solve the issue and try to keep migrants from wanting to migrate to the U.S., instead staying at home. So the vice president over the last three years has been working, particularly with the private sector, to try to shore up investments to go to that region. And there has been some early success. When I have talked to sources both inside and outside government, they know that there are $5 billion of private sector investment that have gone to the region has helped create jobs and the federal data shows that the numbers from those three countries of migrants coming to the U.S. southern border has considerably dropped.
Now, it is often too early to tell for sure what exactly causes those numbers to drop, but it certainly, according to the sources I've talked to you, has helped the situation in those countries. But that is often lost in the political attacks against the vice president because they have dubbed the border czar. Of course, she was never charged with the border exactly, but more so the broader region and it was the Department of Homeland Security, we should note, that is charged with border security.
But, Republicans are going on the attack and that also includes former president Donald Trump, who in a very rare phone call with reporters yesterday, dedicated his time to attacking her and the administration's immigration policies.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: As a result of her dangerously extreme immigration policies, the largest invasion in history is now taking place at our southern border and it is getting worse, not better.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALVAREZ: So to be clear here, Omar, the border was always going to be a political vulnerability for the campaign going into November because Trump has made immigration a cornerstone of his campaign. But now, they are fine-tuning that attack to go directly at the vice president and what was her root causes of migration portfolio.
JIMENEZ: Yeah. Priscilla Alvarez, thank you so much, really appreciate it.
Meanwhile, top U.S. law enforcement officials will testify before lawmakers in the coming hours. FBI Director Christopher Wray and Attorney General Merrick Garland will answer questions about the investigation into the assassination attempt on Donald Trump. Zach Cohen joins us from Washington with those details. So, what can we expect from today's hearing?
ZACHARY COHEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yeah, Omar. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are eager to hear an update from Christopher Wray, the FBI Director, on his investigation into the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump. And that's because of the lack of answers that they got a few days ago from the Secret Service Director, or now former Secret Service Director, Kimberly Cheatle, who has since resigned from her job in the wake of what was truly a disastrous hearing appearance.
But today, we can expect Christopher Wray to provide lawmakers with as much detail as he possibly can at this stage in the investigation. And that includes more answers about the timeline, the sequence of events leading up to and during the shooting that took place at Donald Trump's rally on July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Lawmakers really want to know when the shooter was first identified by law enforcement. How was that suspicious persons report communicated to other officers on the ground and to the Secret Service, and why was the shooter allowed to get on that roof, establish a clear line of sight to the former president and ultimately, fire multiple rounds, killing one person, injuring two rally-goers, and obviously, injuring former President Trump himself.
So look, we are going to see Democrats, Republicans really press Christopher Wray today on Capitol Hill about all of these its questions. And this is coming also as we are seeing new bodycam footage from the immediate aftermath of the shooting. Senator Chuck Grassley, a Republican who chairs -- who is the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, releasing some bodycamera footage that shows officers, local officers and Secret Service agents talking immediately after the shooter was neutralized. You can actually see the shooter's body on the ground in the video with a blood trail dripping off the roof, but officers are talking about when was this shooter identified for the first time, who identified him, and showing each other pictures that were taken of the shooter before he fired those rounds on their cell phones.
[08:40:00]
So, this will probably be a topic of discussion during today's hearing as well.
JIMENEZ: Yeah, it'll be interesting to see and see how many questions actually stay on topic. This was always a major question here. But, Zach Cohen, really appreciate it.
All right, still to come, Taiwan is bracing for landfall from the powerful Typhoon Gaemi. Now, we have the latest on the conditions there. You can see some of the images. We'll bring you details, coming up.
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JIMENEZ: There are travel headaches at European airports after climate activists held protests earlier today. Now, members of the group, Last Generation glued their hands to the tarmac at Cologne Airport in Germany, prompting the suspension of flight operations there. And in Norway, three people were detained after disrupting flights at an airport in Oslo.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VEBJORN BJELLAND BERG, CLIMATE ACTIVIST (through translator): Hi, my name is Vebjorn Bjelland Berg. I'm here at Gardermoen today, disturbing the morning flights. This is a direct call to my cousin, Andreas Bjelland Eriksen, the Norwegian Climate and Environmental Minister, to sign a fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty to stop coal, oil and gas.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JIMENEZ: There were also protests in Finland, where nine people blocked gates at the airport in Helsinki. You can see some of the images there.
Meanwhile, the outer bands of Typhoon Gaemi are now hitting Taiwan. The powerful typhoon is currently the equivalent of a Category 4 Hurricane. You can see how powerful some of them winds there are. Businesses and schools are closed across Taiwan as well as in the Philippines, which has also recorded heavy rain and winds. Government offices are shut down in Manila. CNN's Derek Van Dam is tracking this powerful storm for us. What are you seeing here?
DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yeah, Omar, that video you saw of the reporter getting swept off their feet because of the strong winds was actually from Taipei, which is on the northern side of Taiwan. But I want you to see what we had anticipated was going to be more or less a direct hit for northern Taiwan. Things have changed significantly over the past six hours, this storm being deflected by the mountainous terrain across the central portions of Taiwan.
Let me give you the radar to show you a bit of -- a better example of what's actually happening. This is known as a track deflection, and it happens in Taiwan occasionally, with approaching typhoons. The mountains, which approach several thousand meters here within central Taiwan, can actually change the course of direction with a large typhoon just like Typhoon Gaemi, as it approaches this central coastline, which was the northeastern coastline of Taiwan.
Look at this movement. You can see it moving in a northwesterly direction, almost runs parallel with the coastline, maximizing some of the destruction here with the outer bands of the eyewall, scraping the coastline. And now, it is starting to move offshore, so it could do kind of another turn, a counterclockwise turn, eventually making another -- making its first landfall here across northeastern Taiwan.
[08:45:00]
Now, to make matters worse, where this typhoon is currently located and where it is impacting, there was a significant earthquake in April of this year, a 7.4-magnitude earthquake that shook buildings, injured many people. And of course, now we are getting the impacts of a very powerful typhoon just below super typhoon status. Now, these rainfall totals, the expected rainfall is just off the charts. You see that shade of white, match that up to the legend on the top portion of your screen, that's over 500 millimeters.
Now, look at what has already fallen. We are talking over 700 millimeters in some locations across northeastern Taiwan, along the coastal areas there. That is astronomical. That's nearly 30 inches of rain in roughly a 24-hour period. So where is this thing headed? Well, it'll eventually cross northern Taiwan and then enter into the southeastern sections of China, where it will produce significant rain and of course, wind concerns for this part of the world. It will quickly start to deteriorate and weaken as it moves over land, it loses its moisture source, its energy source, which of course is the warm ocean waters of the western Pacific.
And it put this into perspective, there's been about 30 Taiwan landfalls that have been equivalent to a Category 4 or Category 5 Hurricane. So yeah, they're prepared for this type of stuff, but maybe not for an extended duration storm like this. Omar?
JIMENEZ: Yeah. Just to see the amount of rainfall as you laid out, that one part in white as you showed, just incredibly, incredibly torrential rains we are seeing. Derek Van Dam at CNN Weather Center in Atlanta, thank you so much.
Now, staying in that part of the world, on June 10, Japan revised its immigration laws. Now, the country is allowed to deport most asylum seekers who have applied for refugee status three times or more. Now, this move is part of an effort to reduce the number of asylum seekers in Japan's detention centers and to remove those with fraudulent cases, according to the Immigration Services Agency. But critics say this new law denies asylum seekers a fair judicial process and goes against the United Nation's 1951 Refugee Convention, which Japan has ratified. CNN's Hanako Montgomery has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Lot of demonstration here in Tokyo, where people are protesting Japan's immigration law revisions. They are angry and they are scared because they say Japan is tightening its borders even more to refugees who actually need protection.
MONTGOMERY (voice-over): Among the protesters is Myou Chou Chou who for 18 years has called these streets home, but not by choice. Born a Rohingya Muslim in Myanmar, ethnic and sectarian violence governed his life.
MYOU CHOU CHOU, ASYLUM SEEKER (through translator): I'm still scarred by the bullying and discrimination that I experienced. It has brought me great trauma.
MONTGOMERY (voice-over): Fueled by anger at injustice, Myou joined now deposed leader, Aung San Suu Kyi's democracy movement at 16. Survival was a daily battle, but he left the fighting behind when the military junta repeatedly and unlawfully detained his father in his place, Myou says. He escaped in 2006. His father enlisted a broker who got Myou a passport and a one-way ticket to Japan, a destination Myou only learned about on the day he left.
CHOU CHOU (through translator): I didn't even have time to say goodbye to my mother. I still can't forget that day. I've put my father through so much.
MONTGOMERY (voice-over): Since fleeing, Myou hasn't seen his family who are now in a refugee camp in Bangladesh. His only tie to Myanmar is through friends still fighting for democracy, who asked to remain anonymous out of fear of persecution. They lamented how Myou, even after years in Japan, was still denied human rights.
As one of nearly 14,000 asylum seekers currently in Japan, Myou is safe from political persecution, but assimilating into a country that's more than 98 percent ethnically Japanese has been a challenge for Myou, a reality underscored with three rejected refugee applications.
But now, even safety is no longer guaranteed. He fears sudden deportation under Japan's new controversial immigration law.
MONTGOMERY: We just got off the phone with the Immigration Agency. They said that anybody who is facing any real danger back home wouldn't be forcefully deported, but they acknowledged that this was still a really long and arduous process, and one that they haven't really figured out entirely.
MONTGOMERY (voice-over): Now, Myou says he faces an impossible choice. CHOU CHOU (through translator): I don't want to be sent to Myanmar and lose my life at the hands of the dictatorial military regime over there. I don't want to waste what my father did to save me.
[08:50:00]
MONTGOMERY (voice-over): Myou, just one of thousands of desperate asylum seekers, finds his life hanging in the balance in Japan with no refuge in sight.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JIMENEZ: That was Hanako Montgomery reporting. We are going to have more news after this break. Stay with us.
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JIMENEZ: In just two days from now, runners will carry the Olympic torch into Paris to mark the opening of the Summer Games. On Tuesday, the torch relay wound its way through Versailles. At last check, it was on the outskirts of Paris, heading toward the River Seine for Friday's ceremony. Earlier, President Emmanuel Macron visited the temporary arena at the Eiffel Tower and met some of the volunteers helping to bring the event to life.
Now, officials say following security checks, they have blocked 5,000 people from attending the games. About 1,000 of them are suspected of espionage. A whole a lot of factors here, CNN Senior Producer Saskya Vandoorne is in Paris and joins us now. All right, what is happening today? What is the mood there on the streets of Paris?
SASKYA VANDOORNE, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER: Well, Omar, let me take you to the heart of Paris, right here, where security preparations are underway. Take a look just at these police patrols on these boats, they are going up and down the Seine and we are here right inside the security perimeter. So to get you -- give you an idea of how safe it is here, currently, you need an accreditation to get here or you need a QR code if you live in the area.
Now, all of this is to prepare for that opening ceremony on Friday, which is set to be pretty spectacular. That's what everybody has been talking about here this evening. Now, I'll remind you, Omar, that it is the first time an opening ceremony for the Summer Games is taking place outside of a stadium. So, it is going to be here on the Seine River, so pretty ambitious. It is going to be up to 7,000 athletes on boat, making their way down the river, and up to 300,000 spectators who should be cheering them on.
Now, we don't know much about the music that's going to be played during the ceremony, but I can tell you that Celine Dion arrived in Paris yesterday. So perhaps that gives us a hint. But they're also rumors that Daft Punk could perform or even Dua Lipa. Omar?
JIMENEZ: Two shows I would love to be a part of. Now. I also just want to ask, it is the first Olympic opening ceremony on a river. You highlighted some of the security checks that are happening with those police boats going up and down. But, what can we expect with that new arena as of sorts?
VANDOORNE: Yes. So there are 45,000 policemen and soldiers that are deployed just for the opening ceremony alone. So that's what we know about the security during the opening ceremony. But then you are going to see, you know, drones. They are going to have policemen on horseback, on rollerblades. They really have made sure for that all of central Paris, where all of the stadiums are going to be, are under really tight security. And that is because the current terror alert in France, it is at its highest. And now, it was raised after that attack on that Moscow theater and the officials that I have been speaking to say that their greatest concern is from Islamist terrorism. Omar?
JIMENEZ: All right, Saskya Vandoorne, thank you so much. Can't wait, we are close now. Appreciate it.
And the stories in the spotlight this hour, a rare and uncorrected proof copy of the first Harry Potter book, the "Philosopher's Stone" will be auction on Thursday.
[08:55:00]
It was the first time Harry was introduced to the world in print, making it a really sought-after item. The uncorrected book is one of only 200 ever printed and is riddled with misprints, even the name of author J. K. Rowling is misspelt.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SAMANTHA SISLER, MANAGER, SPECIALTY COLLECTIONS AUCTIONS, HERITAGE AUCTIONS: (Inaudible) name is misspelt on the title page, so it is given as J.A. Rowling. So obviously, the A should be a K and it is missing a period. Probably the most notable misprint that carries over into the first edition and of course, is present here in the uncorrected proof is on Page 53 under the equipment that Mr. Harry potter needs, it says one wand and it is duplicated twice, one at the top of the list and one at the bottom of the list.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JIMENEZ: Getting the name right seems like a good place to start. Thanks for joining me here on "CNN Newsroom." I'm Omar Jimenez. "Connect The World" is up next.
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