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CNN International: French Train System Attacked Ahead Of Opening Ceremony; LeBron James, Coco Gauff To Be Flag Bearers For Team USA; Obamas Endorse Kamala Harris For President. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired July 26, 2024 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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ZAIN ASHER, HOST, "CNN NEWSROOM": All right. Hello, and welcome to our viewers all around the world. I'm Zain Asher in New York.
Coming up on CNN Newsroom, French police are stepping up security after coordinated malicious acts on French train lines ahead of today's Olympic ceremony opening games. CNN has teams across all angles for you. Plus, Donald Trump meets face-to-face with Benjamin Netanyahu for the first time in years at Mar-a-Lago amid urgency to agree to a ceasefire deal. And Kamala Harris secures another major endorsement, as momentum builds for her campaign. I'll discuss with my panel.
All right. We are following three major stories this hour. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is meeting with former U.S. President Donald Trump in Florida. The meeting comes on the heels of talks Mr. Netanyahu had Thursday with U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. Yes, she can. That is the message from former U.S. President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama, after they both endorsed Harris for President. The support of the Obamas is critical for the Vice President just weeks before the Democratic National Convention.
In Paris, police say they're ramping up security after what's being called coordinated sabotage that's disrupted rail travel just hours before the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics. Officials say France's high-speed railway system was hit by multiple attacks that stranded or delayed thousands of passages. The President of the International Olympic Committee, though, is confident the games will go on as scheduled.
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THOMAS BACH, PRESIDENT, INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE: Now, I don't have concern. We have full confidence in the French authorities. All the measures are being taken. And the French authorities are assisted by 180 other intelligence services around the world, and not only by information, some of them are even deploying their human resources. And so, we have good reasons to have full confidence.
(END VIDEO CLIP) ASHER: We're joined live now by CNN Senior Correspondent Melissa Bell,
who is at the Montparnasse train station in Paris. We've also got CNN Sports Analyst Christine Brennan. She is also a Sports Columnist for USA Today.
Melissa, let me start with you, because this is obviously not the news we were expecting when we woke up this morning to talk about the Olympic ceremony and the games today. Just walk us through what is happening just in terms of the level of delays we're seeing, because the plans of a lot of travelers has been ruined. Where are we in terms of repairs?
MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, there are some lines that are getting up and running. What French authorities say is that the sabotage attempts in the east of the country were not as successful in those as the west. But, when you look at the map of France and where those acts of sabotage, whether it is cables that were cut or arson happened, you can see that it was designed specifically to cripple the high-speed main train lines that come from different parts of the country towards Paris. And certainly, the time of this, no coincidence, Zain, since it happened only hours before the opening ceremony.
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BELL (voice-over): The organizers of Paris 2024 believed they were ready for anything. But, it was at 04:00 a.m. hours from the opening ceremony that coordinated sabotage and arson cause chaos was revealed.
PATRICE VERGRIETE, MINISTER DELEGATE FOR TRANSPORT OF FRANCE (Interpreted): Today, all the information we have clearly shows that it was deliberate to simultaneous nature. Everything happened at the same time. Everything now points to the fact that these were arson attacks, particularly the timing, which is more than suspicious.
BELL (voice-over): Security in Paris is tight with authorities keen to make sure that things go smoothly. But, this was one attack carried out simultaneously across the country that was impossible to imagine. No particular group has yet claimed responsibility.
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BELL: These are exactly the kinds of images that the organizers of Paris 2024 had hoped to avoid, with French authorities warning that it is 250,000 travelers likely to be impacted this Friday, 800,000 over the course of the weekend.
BELL (voice-over): The latest drama likely to dampen the spirits of the French, many of them heading off from family holidays, even as Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo believed that enthusiasm for the games had finally gripped the country.
ANNE HIDALGO, PARIS MAYOR (Interpreted): I felt that the enthusiasm arrived a little before during the passage of the flame in Paris on July 14 and 15th. The Olympic flame was paraded in Paris, and there were people everywhere, children, elderly people, all social classes, everyone was really happy. And I said to myself that it's the magic of the games working.
BELL (voice-over): The opening ceremony will still go ahead as planned tonight along the River Seine, despite the train attack and the threat of rain. Whether it will further dampen spirits could depend more on the weather than the turnout.
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BELL: Now, Zain, there are desperate attempts happening around the country to try and fix the rail services, the train tracks, the signal boxes themselves, and of course, buses being put on to try and help passengers get to where they need to go. But, on the question of what disruptions there will be to the opening ceremony themselves, we've just been hearing from a spokesman for the SNCF, France's main rail network, that there were four trains carrying athletes that were due to arrive in Paris today, two of them made it, one of them had to be cancelled, and another is being prepared.
So, beyond the travel chaos caused to many, tens of thousands of ordinary French people around the country, there will be an impact on some of those athletes hoping to get to that ceremony tonight.
ASHER: Yeah, and the investigation continues into who may have caused this and what the motive was. Melissa Bell live for us there, thank you so much.
All right. For more on the games themselves, let's turn to CNN Sports Analyst Christine Brennan, who is ready there with her umbrella because we know that the weather in Paris is going to be somewhat miserable today leading up to the opening ceremony.
So, I do want to ask you, Christine, just in terms of the amount of pressure on a host nation to deliver a world-class opening ceremony with a world-class performance, I mean, it really does set the tone and the tenor of the games, especially because this time is a little different because it's taking place outdoors. It's along the River Seine and it's city-wide. There is challenges with that, but also a real opportunity for Paris as well.
CHRISTINE BRENNAN, CNN SPORTS ANALYST, & SPORTS COLUMNIST, USA TODAY: That's right, Zain, and this is a very ambitious, the most ambitious opening ceremony in Olympic history. Paris, of course, hosted the games 100 years ago. We've never seen an opening ceremony not in a stadium that could be secured, a football stadium, a soccer stadium, 60,000, 80,000. So, already this was a complete departure, unprecedented. French President Emmanuel Macron, I was at an event on Monday with him, and he was talking about the open theatre that Paris has become.
So, it has been celebrated and beloved, but here I stand with an umbrella because it started raining again, I'm about eight tenths of a mile from the Seine River here close to the Arc de Triomphe. The old adage, will it rain on their parade? I mean, you roll the dice, when you're the French and you decide to do something like this, kudos to them for doing it. The Paris organizers wanted this from the get go. They're following through. But, you are dealing with obviously Mother Nature and then the security risks. The perimeter is here. As I said, eight tenths of a mile. I have never seen a security perimeter, all the Super Bowls, men's and women's Final Fours in the United States and all the Olympics I've covered, saying where the perimeter has been this far away from the venue.
ASHER: I mean, it's -- I mean, the logistical challenges alone is enough to make your head spin. I do want to talk about the flagbearers, because we have spoken a lot about Coco Gauff and LeBron James. I mean, you think about it. She is only 20-years-old. I have to remind myself that she is still so young and the fact that she is the first sort of tennis player in history to bear the flag for the U.S. And on top of that, this is three years after she missed the Tokyo Olympics because she got COVID at the last minute. So, she had to cancel. But, she is back now with a vengeance. Take us through it.
BRENNAN: Yeah, absolutely. Coco Gauff is an American hero. She is a very, very big name in American sports, and she is joined with by LeBron James, obviously a bigger human being and also a huge name in sports in the United States and around the world. And because they do play internationally, the world knows Coco Gauff. And I think it's -- both are terrific choices.
We do need to keep in mind, people have asked me, Katie Ledecky, four- time Olympian, not to say she should have been the flagbearer over Coco Gauff, I'm not saying that, but Katie Ledecky took herself out of the running to be chosen for flagbearer, whether she would have been or not, because she competes tomorrow morning and she could not be on her feet for the time commitment of six or seven hours that you would have to have from the village to this Seine, getting on the boats and then being able to come off their boat.
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So, obviously, anyone competing tomorrow, just as an athlete, could not risk being on their feet for that long. That having been said, as I said, LeBron James, Coco Gauff, basketball, tennis, it doesn't get much better than that.
ASHER: Christine, I'm a huge gymnastics fan, and of course, the one person I'm so excited to see this time around is, of course, Simone Biles. I mean, who isn't. Excited to see her, especially when you think about just the trajectory, the last time, the last Olympics and all the spotlight on mental health where she sort of had to step aside and she prioritized her own mental health. That was a real inspiration for a lot of, not just athletes, but people around the world. What can we expect from her this time around?
BRENNAN: Absolutely, I mean, she is the greatest of all time in her sport, the goat, and also an amazing role model on the issue of mental health. To the point you were just making, the word twisties that she told us about three years ago in Tokyo, that's a word I don't think anyone knew what it meant in gymnastics terms, until Simone Biles told us, and then the sympathy and the outpouring of concern and support for Simone Biles three years ago, that was extraordinary. Also, she is the best-known survivor of the worst sex abuse scandal in sports history, the Larry Nassar story, of course, the hundreds of women, the gymnasts, who were abused by him, and she has spoken out time and again on behalf of survivors and fighting for them and speaking in front of Congress.
So, this great athlete is also a great human being, and she is a fabulous representative of so many things that many young women and men have gone through. And I think that's why she is just so appealing. And oh, by the way, she probably will help the U.S. to win the team gold medal. She may well, of course, win the individual all- around gold medal, and she could win three more gold medals on the individual events. So, extraordinary athlete, and at 27-years-old, as Katie Ledecky is also 27, remarkable to see these top athletes who are going on longer than most athletes do in terms of the length of their career, and just being so good, and also such terrific role models for young people around the world.
ASHER: I love how you just threw in those minor details there at the end. I mean, she is extraordinary. There is no other word. I mean, she is incredible. There is no other word for Simone Biles.
Christine Brennan live for us there, thank you so much.
All right. I want to bring in Senator Chris Coons, who is a member of the U.S. presidential delegation in Paris for the opening ceremonies. We are grateful to have him. Senator, thank you so much for being with us. So, in your -- we're obviously going to talk politics in just a moment, but in your capacity as a member of the U.S. presidential delegation in Paris, I just want to get your thoughts on the news we got, we all woke up to in the U.S. this morning, about the coordinated arson attacks on the French railway system.
SEN. CHRIS COONS (D-DE): Well, it's gravely concerning saying there is always concern about safety and security at an event as prominent, as global as the Olympics. We did get a chance to talk with the head of the French Olympic Committee earlier today. My impression is that there were no injuries. There was no actual interruption of any significant Olympics-related event. But, it was a very concerning act of sabotage, and it impacted a number of the major high-speed rail lines coming into Paris. So, as we've gone to events in different venues today, it's been striking just how many police are out on the street, just how tight the security is here in Paris. I'm very much hoping that they will have a safe and enjoyable Olympic Games here in Paris.
ASHER: As do we all. Senator, let's just talk about the news, the sort of major political news that we also got, which is the Obamas endorsing Kamala Harris. They took their time, somewhat, just in terms of waiting a few days after Kamala Harris officially sort of threw herself into the ring over the weekend when Biden stepped aside. The Obamas sort of see themselves as -- President Obama sees himself as more or less of an elder statesman, an impartial elder statesman within the party. He wanted to wait until there was a lot more unity behind Harris. Now that there is, I mean, she has got so much energy and so much momentum behind her. How does she maintain that energy and that vibrancy going into November?
COONS: Well, Zain, I think we're already seeing, as Vice President Harris goes in campaigns around the country, she is getting huge record crowds, significant contributions. Thousands of volunteers just showing up at local Democratic Party offices in key states around the country.
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I'm looking forward to our convention in Chicago next month. That's an opportunity for us to show the leadership of President Biden, the leadership of our former presidents who are Democrats, and Vice President Harris as our nominee.
ASHER: And just in terms of foreign policy, obviously, Kamala Harris met with Netanyahu yesterday. I want to play some sound in terms of what she said after that meeting to the public. Let's roll it.
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KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE U.S., (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: As I just told Prime Minister Netanyahu, it is time to get this deal done. So, to everyone who has been calling for a ceasefire and to everyone who yearns for peace, I see you and I hear you.
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ASHER: So, Senator, we know that Kamala Harris is in lockstep with the administration when it comes to ensuring that Israel has the right to defend itself. She has s reiterated that. We are aware of that. However, she seems to be very passionate when it comes to issuing a really sort of staunch and stark condemnation of the level of suffering, the level of appalling suffering we are seeing in Gaza. Just in terms of what Netanyahu's allies are saying, what some of his officials are saying about her remarks after that meeting, they're saying that her remarks actually jeopardize a potential ceasefire because they showed that there was daylight between the U.S. and Israel. What is your thought -- what are your thoughts on that?
COONS: Well, that's an interesting reading of it. There have been many expressions of concern by members of Congress, by President Biden, by his senior leadership team, Secretary Blinken, National Security Advisor Sullivan, over months about the number and level of civilian casualties. This is nothing new. This is part of the ongoing conversation between the United States and our close ally Israel about the conduct of the war in Gaza, the urgency of securing the release of the hostages. Many of us, myself included, met with American hostage families just before Prime Minister Netanyahu's address. Two of my guests for his address to Congress were the parents of one of the American hostages.
So, look, I do think that she was delivering that forcefully as a message. But, I think she reflects very widespread views, certainly among the Democratic Party, more broadly, I think, among Americans, that Israel seems to have accomplished the vast majority of its military goal in Gaza. In fact, the Prime Minister has recently said that major operations are winding down or nearly concluded. And I think, given how long this conflict has gone on and how many continue to be held hostage, there is a growing sense of urgency about achieving a ceasefire that could move forward the regional peace deal that President Biden has been championing.
ASHER: Yeah. 40,000 people dead in Gaza, the humanitarian situation on the ground there remains catastrophic, to say the least.
Senator Chris Coons live for us there, thank you so much.
All right. Still to come, we're heading back to Paris for the Olympics, as CNN Sport tells us who we should be looking out for. Plus, fresh from talks at the White House, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will soon meet with Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago. We'll have a preview for you just ahead.
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ASHER: All right. With the U.S. election just a few months away, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is looking to rekindle his relationship with Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. The former President is hosting Mr. Netanyahu at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida today. It will be their first face-to-face meeting in years. Trump told Fox News, he wants Israel to quote "finish up the war in Gaza quickly", suggesting it has become a PR nightmare. The Mar-a-Lago visit follows a big day in Washington. Mr. Netanyahu met with Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic nominee. She then spoke to reporters, giving perhaps the most forceful remarks on Gaza that we've heard from the Biden administration since the war began.
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HARRIS: As I just told Prime Minister Netanyahu, it is time to get this deal done. So, to everyone who has been calling for a ceasefire and to everyone who yearns for peace, I see you and I hear you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: Mr. Netanyahu also received pressure for a ceasefire from President Joe Biden when they met earlier in the Oval Office as well. The leaders also visited with families of hostages still held in Gaza. The father of one hostage says he is cautiously optimistic about prospects for a deal.
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JONATHAN DEKEL-CHEN, FATHER OF HOSTAGE: We feel probably more optimistic than we have since the first round of releases in late November, early December. We got absolute commitment from the Biden administration and from Prime Minister Netanyahu that they understand the urgency of this moment now to waste no time and to complete this deal as it currently stands.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: All right. CNN's Alayna Treene and Alex Marquardt are following developments from Washington.
I do want to start with Alayna. So, Trump, while he was President, enacted a number of policies to benefit Israel, including working to move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, etc. But, the relationship between Netanyahu and Trump is a little bit more fraught, right? It's a little bit more complicated. Just explain to our audience why and how that affects the dynamics in this meeting.
ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Yes, you're exactly right. During -- while Donald Trump was President and during the Trump administration, both leaders often touted their very close personal relationship. Netanyahu had even once said that Donald Trump was the greatest friend that Israel had. However, that did change toward the end of his administration -- of Trump's administration as well as shortly after he left the White House. And there is a couple of reasons for that.
One, is that Donald Trump believes Netanyahu was being disloyal when he congratulated Joe Biden on winning the 2020 election, and saying that he looked forward to working with him. Trump has actually told to Axios shortly after that "F" Netanyahu. I'm obviously not saying the full word there. But, that's just one reason. Another reason, and Donald Trump still says this to this day out on the campaign trail, is that he thinks that Netanyahu betrayed the U.S. when at the 11th hour, Trump claims, they pulled out of plans to strike Iran and to kill, what ultimately killed Qasem Soleimani.
Now, a couple of things I want to note about this meeting today. When I talked to Trump's advisors, they said that Trump is really going into this without a set agenda, that it's -- he doesn't have an overarching goal that he wants to deliver or a message he wants to deliver to Netanyahu. However, we have heard him say repeatedly that he wants to see an end to this war swiftly, and that if he were President that this would have never happened. Of course, he says that but then never offers details on how he thinks they could actually end this war and do it in a quick manner. And as you noted, Zain, he also has argued that Israel has a PR nightmare on their hands with this, and he has been very critical of Netanyahu's handling himself of the overall conflict.
Now, I do want to mention or share with you what one senior advisor told me when I asked them about the timing of this meeting coming after years of their relationship really souring since Trump left the White House. This is what they told me. They said quote, "Trump is willing to put any personal or political differences to the side and develop or reconnect with him, to develop a working relationship with him. It shows the evolution of how Trump will conduct himself in a second term." And I find that to be really interesting as well because what I think the important context is -- here is Netanyahu isn't the first world leader that Donald Trump is meeting with as a candidate.
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Over the past several months, Trump has welcomed a series of leaders from all over the globe, from people -- just recently, he had Viktor Orban, the Hungarian Prime Minister, visit him at Mar-a-Lago, the second such meeting they had this year. He has also had the British Foreign Secretary David Cameron come and speak with them, a whole host of other foreign leaders. And really, when I talked to Trump's team, they argue that this is them hedging their bets, that in the event that Donald Trump would win in November, they want to make sure they have strong ties. And I think you're seeing that exactly with how Netanyahu has been working it this week as well.
ASHER: All right. Alayna Treene live for us there, thank you so much.
All right. Alex, I want to bring you in just to talk really about where we are in terms of a ceasefire. We know that Netanyahu met with Harris and Biden yesterday. Both of them sort of talked to Netanyahu about the importance of reaching a deal quickly. There were a lot of critics, Alex, that talk about the fact that they believe that Netanyahu is stalling when it comes to ceasefire negotiations, drawing things out, trying to prolong the war, because that is much more politically expedient for him. Just talk to us again about where we are in terms of a ceasefire deal.
ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Zain, Benjamin Netanyahu is going to be getting different messages, very different messages from Donald Trump, that he -- than he did from the Biden administration. From Donald Trump, as you just heard from Alayna, it is finish the job. Get it done. Essentially, keep going, but just wrap this up quickly. The message from the Biden administration is essentially this war needs to end now. We heard Kamala Harris saying very forcefully yesterday that the ceasefire is needed right now, and she detailed at length the suffering that is going on among Palestinians in Gaza.
The White House had intended to use these meetings with Netanyahu to push the ceasefire forward, to get Netanyahu to a point where he could agree to a ceasefire. We heard from U.S. officials that they believe that the ball is in Israel's court. I've heard from sources that the meeting is being planned for next week for the mediators to try to iron out some of the final details. But, it's clear that there are still specifics to be worked out.
But now, what we're hearing from Israeli officials is they believe that what Harris said yesterday is problematic and could complicate these ceasefire negotiations. Now, in these remarks, after her meeting with Netanyahu, which were quite striking, because they were much more forceful than we have heard from President Biden or other members of the White House, she did start talking about this ironclad commitment to Israel's security. She made very clear that she is, as you said, Zain, in lockstep with the President when it comes to policy towards Israel. But, she spoke in much more emphatic and empathetic terms about the suffering of Palestinians. And then went on to say, this is why we need a ceasefire now.
Take a listen to a little bit of what she had to say.
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HARRIS: What has happened in Gaza over the past nine months is devastating, the images of dead children and desperate hungry people fleeing for safety, sometimes displaced for the second, third or fourth time. We cannot look away in the face of these tragedies. We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to the suffering, and I will not be silent.
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MARQUARDT: So, Harris became the presumptive Democratic nominee the same week as this visit by Netanyahu. And there were big questions about how she was going to handle this. Would she appear to be more forceful? And indeed, she is. That line, I will not be silent, really does say quite a bit. And now we're hearing from an anonymous senior Israeli official, not only calling her comments problematic, but arguing that because of the sympathy that she showed in those remarks, that Hamas may interpret that as daylight between Israel and the United States, and that that could really throw a wrench into these ceasefire negotiations.
So, I don't want to say that Harris's remarks upended things but they certainly added a new dimension to this conversation and to these negotiations that could be very interesting and well worth watching. Zain.
ASHER: Yeah, some important points. Alex Marquardt live for us there, thank you so much.
All right. Still to come here, what to expect from an ambitious never foreseen Olympics opening ceremony. We are live for you in Paris again next. Plus. CNN Meteorologist Derek Van Dam is tracking the somewhat gloomy weather ahead of that opening ceremony. Derek.
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ASHER: All right. Welcome back. You are watching CNN Newsroom. I'm Zain Asher in New York.
Let's go back to Paris for you, and one of our top stories this hour, the home of this year's Olympics was hit by several coordinated attacks early Friday targeting France's high-speed rail network. French intelligence services say they're fully mobilized to find out who was behind these attacks, which caused chaos across the country, affecting some 800,000 commuters.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We came through here and then we were waiting on our train and we saw billboards that there is a delay of 30 minutes. Now it's 40 minutes. So, it's getting longer and longer. I was in first a little bit scared to come here, but we already booked it. So, we thought, yeah, if something happens, there are enough police people. So, it will be OK with us. But, yeah, it was a little bit scary. But, nothing happened. So, that's nice.
(END VIDEO CLIP) ASHER: All this comes just hours before the Olympic opening ceremony
along the River Seine. In Paris, organizers tell CNN that it will go on as planned. The ticket holders have been warned to brace for rain.
Let's get more on all of this. CNN Meteorologist Derek Van Dam is at the weather center. But first, let's get over to Paris. CNN Sport's Coy Wire is there for us. So, just walk us through. I mean, this is very unique and that these opening ceremonies are taking place outdoors, along the River Seine. So, how much of a damper will the rain put on the ceremony this time around?
COY WIRE, CNN WORLD SPORT: I don't know if anything can dampen the parade of these athletes who are so excited to be here, Zain. It's the first time the opening ceremony is outside of the stadium. It's going to be quite unique. But, these games, this is the pinnacle of the careers for most of these athletes. Most won't ever make it back. They've sacrificed their jobs, their family for this one shot to make it all worth it.
You also have superstar pros chasing Olympic gold. These are the first Olympics for Steph Curry, the star for the Warriors. I asked him and Suns' star Kevin Durant what they'll be thinking about during today's opening ceremony.
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STEPH CURRY, TEAM USA: You imagine the excitement of representing your country, being a part of the opening ceremony, festivities. I know it's very unique here being on the river and being a part of just the scene in Paris. So, I'm excited about it all.
KEVIN DURANT, TEAM USA: You get to see all the great athletes around the world represent their country, and the pride that you have for your country just goes to another level. We haven't done a river -- the boat on a river yet. We usually walk around the stadium. So, it'd be a new experience for me. I'm looking forward to it.
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WIRE: All right. So, we hope for no rain. We will hope no one falls off a boat into the water. Some events already underway, though. We had the first world record broken in archery by Korea's Lim Si-hyeon in women's individual. We also have some controversy already.
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Defending women's soccer champs Team Canada, their head coach Bev Priestman sent home after the team allegedly spied on opponents with drones Monday. Canada staff member was caught flying a drone around New Zealand's practice. That staff member and an assistant were sent home Wednesday. Canada beat New Zealand in their opening group stage match 2-1, and the reigning Olympic champs play hosts to France next this Sunday. So, a lot of eyes on that game, and additional drama, as these games kick off.
ASHER: Drama already. OK. And just in terms of what you're most excited to see, Coy, during the opening ceremony, I mean, obviously, for me, it is seeing the flagbearers Coco Gauff and LeBron James. That will be quite something.
WIRE: Yeah. It was really excited to see Snoop Dogg running with the Olympic torch there for a minute. That was cool. But, yes, these Olympic Games, when you think of them, you can't help but think about Simone Biles, one of the greatest gymnasts we've ever seen on this planet. You're going to have break dancers from all over the world coming and competing in the Olympics for the first time.
But, the thing I love about the opening ceremony, it really brings into perspective what the Olympics can do, especially in these divisive times in which we live. You have athletes, you have fans from all over the world, coming to one place. It doesn't matter where you're from, your race, your place, your color, well, it doesn't matter. You're embracing hugging, high fiving, celebrating these hopes and dreams. It's something maybe the world could use right about now.
ASHER: And that's actually something that Coco Gauff talked about this idea of, a lot of athletes talk about it, this idea of using sports to really bring people together.
Derek, let me bring you in, because last time I checked the forecast in Paris, a lot of clouds, high probability of rain. Take us through it.
DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yeah. Well, look, I don't want to rain on anybody's parade, especially Coy Wire, he is a good buddy of mine, and all the athletes there, especially Team USA. But look, we got to face the reality, because the opening ceremony, which kicks off in about three and a half hours, is so heavily weather dependent.
So, I was actually on the ground in Paris a couple of weeks ago. We went and got an exclusive interview with some of the weather forecasters who are responsible for advising the International Olympic Committee on approaching severe weather, whether that's extreme heat or rainfall.
So, what you're looking at on your TV screen is my time with the head of the Meteo-France sports division, and he showed me this little known device called a mobile weather radar. They brought that into Paris, set it up just on the outskirts of town to give street-level minute-by-minute weather forecasts of approaching rainstorms for the event venues, and also for the opening ceremony, considering that the ceremony is going to be held along a six-kilometer stretch along the River Seine, the first time it has not been held within an Olympic stadium. So, we are subject to the weather, and they've got to put all these contingency plans in place. So, their technology is really high tech. They've got all the safeguards out there.
But now, it's just simply up to Mother Nature. If it rains too much, by the way, the river current could be too strong for the opening ceremony. And of course, the performers who need a dry stage may slip if it's raining too heavily. 15 millimeters, that's what we're calling for over the next six hours or so. That's about a half an inch of rain, not ideal. Looking at the current radar, guess what's coming. Yeah. We're going
to rain on the parade near Coy. You can see a little bit of rain now approaching Paris and more moisture streaming in from the Atlantic Ocean. So, what this kind of equates to is at least the potential. But, it's looking more and more likely that light-to-moderate rain will begin right around the same time as the opening ceremony begins along the River Seine, continues overnight intermittently, and then builds through the day on Saturday once again.
So, our official forecast does call for wet weather as we head into the next few hours, even into the overnight period. There is the 15 millimeters of rain or roughly a half an inch for Paris. It does dry out on Sunday. And then we need to start introducing the potential of heat for the athletes and the spectators by Monday and Tuesday of next week. So, weather and the Paris Olympics are completely intertwined. Zain.
ASHER: But, as Christine mentioned earlier, nothing could really rain on the parade this afternoon. I mean, it's just going to be so magical.
(CROSSTALK)
ASHER: It's going to be so magical.
DAM: Yeah.
ASHER: Right? OK.
DAM: Agreed.
ASHER: I'm going to be optimistic.
DAM: I agree.
ASHER: Derek Van Dam --
DAM: I like it.
ASHER: -- live for us, thank you.
All right. Two of the biggest names in U.S. politics now officially in Kamala Harris's corner. Up next, Barack and Michelle Obama join the long list of key Democrats endorsing the Vice President's White House fit.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:40:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ASHER: All right. Vice President Kamala Harris received another major endorsement for her Democratic candidacy, this one coming from a decades-long friendship.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHELLE OBAMA, FORMER FIRST LADY OF THE UNITES STATES: I can't have this phone call without saying to my girl Kamala, I am proud of you. This is going to be historic.
BARACK OBAMA, 44TH U.S. PRESIDENT: We called to say, Michelle and I couldn't be prouder to endorse you and to do everything we can to get you through this election and into the Oval Office.
HARRIS: Oh, my goodness. Michelle, Barack, this means so much to me. I'm looking forward to doing this with the two of you, Doug and I both.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: Former U.S. President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama throwing their support behind the Harris ticket. The former President did not immediately announce his endorsement after President Biden's withdrawal, and instead, waited until enough delegates gave their support, putting Harris on track to clinch the party's nomination next month.
Joining us live now is CNN Senior White House Correspondent Kayla Tausche. So, President Obama there being cautiously optimistic, waiting a few days, understandably. But, just explain to us how much of a game changer is this endorsement for Kamala Harris?
KAYLA TAUSCHE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's not just the endorsement that's a game changer. It is the fact that Barack and Michelle Obama, who are incredibly influential power players still within the Democratic Party, are going to be lending their own firepower to Harris on the campaign trail. You heard there in that phone call, they said that they were going to be doing everything they could to get her through the election and into the Oval Office, including stumping for her out on the trail.
Now, this has been a carefully choreographed succession of endorsements by top Democratic leaders, as they throw their own political weight behind Harris and agree to do everything they can to help her with a very, very short clock until the convention for the party, which is in less than a month, and the election itself, which, as of Sunday, will be just 100 days away. The Harris campaign is undergoing what it is calling a weekend of action with more than 2,000 events around the country, including a handful today in key battleground states, where surrogates and elected officials there will be a championing the nascent Harris campaign, which, as of less than a week ago, was still the Biden campaign.
There has been a good drumbeat of momentum for Vice President Harris in her new role atop the Democratic ticket. But, strategists say it's unclear how long this honeymoon will last, and the key will be whether she can keep that momentum going into the fall. Zain.
ASHER: All right. Kayla Tausche live for us there, thank you so much.
All right. Joining us live now for more perspective on this big endorsement, Republican Strategist Rina Shah, and Brad Woodhouse, a Senior Advisor to the Democratic National Committee. Thank you both so much for being with us. As our Kayla was just mentioning, it's not just the endorsement. It's the massive firepower that the Obamas are really going to lend Kamala Harris that's going to be really key here.
Let me start with you, Brad. Just explain to us what have we learned over the past six days about Kamala Harris's vision for the country.
[11:45:00]
BRAD WOODHOUSE, SENIOR ADVISOR, DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE: Well, I think what we've learned is that she is tremendously energetic, electric. I have to say, when she was elected to (TECHNICAL DIFFICULTY) people in the Democratic Party that really felt like she would be the next nominee for President. She obviously ran in 2019 didn't achieve that. But, she proved enough that Joe Biden thought she would be a great partner. And so now, I think she is ready to take the reins in her own right. I'll tell you, there is so much excitement in the Democratic Party right now. And frankly, we've dominated the conversation for a week. And I think the timing of these things, the way they have rolled out, has been tremendously, tremendously impactful.
And right now, sitting here, we've got 40 million views on that video in six hours. So, it means a lot for the long term, for Michelle and Barack Obama campaigning for her. But, right now, a lot of Americans are seeing it in their feed.
ASHER: And Rina, if you're the Trump campaign, what are you most concerned about at this point in time? I mean, obviously, Kamala Harris is more of a threat. I mean, it's pretty much neck and neck right now, but Kamala Harris is certainly more of a threat to Trump's bid for the White House than President Biden is or was. Just explain to us, though, specifically, what should they be most concerned about when it comes to Kamala Harris?
RINA SHAH, U.S. REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST, & FORMER SR. PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN ADVISOR: Women, women, women. The American women that have been energized by this Harris endorsement rolling into the DNC next month, it's incredible, the grassroots support that has come out, not just black women, but also white women. There was a call held just last night where there were thousands upon thousands of them, and I don't have the final figure, forgive me, but I know that they raised well over a million dollars within a few hours.
ASHER: But, it's $2 million. It was $2 million. They raised $2 million.
SHAH: OK. So, there we go.
ASHER: Right.
SHAH: I mean, this is -- what I'm talking about, the grassroots will support and obviously the black women, 44,000 of them that gathered and raised over something like $1.5 million in just three hours, that has carried that momentum, has carried into other communities. South Asian women also organized a call the other night, and they were also quite successful in getting dollars and numbers. People saying that they feel energized. And look, it's not entirely about identity because that's what Republicans are going to go for. They're already calling Harris the DEI pick. And that's fine. We don't want to get into the specifics of that. But, American women have particularly felt themselves seen.
This is not a Clinton or an Obama or a Biden. This is somebody who is seen as having come up through the ranks and being the most experienced Vice President of our nation's history. And they're really giving her an honest look. So, I think center-right women and independent women are also sitting there thinking, I want to know more. And already, we learned a little bit more when Kamala Harris came out, I believe it was just yesterday, saying that she wants that ceasefire deal between Israel and Gaza in Gaza.
So, there we go. We're seeing her start to take action, and that should scare Republicans, because this has all happened in a condensed period of time, which makes it especially hard to fight back on.
ASHER: Brad, in terms of the name calling that we're seeing, I mean, I'm seeing Kamala Harris, the radical, ultra-liberal, San Francisco liberal. But, what happens when the Trump campaign really unleashes its full arsenal of attacks against her? Is it the right strategy for her to attack back, or is there -- is it sort of the Obama method of, when they go low, we go high? What is the right way for her to deal with that?
WOODHOUSE: Well, I think you've seen it play out already in her -- in the campaign events that she has done, including one in Milwaukee. That was the largest attended event that the Biden-Harris campaign had had up to this point. And she is laying out a case that, I'm a prosecutor. I know about felons. I know about fraudsters. I know about people who have committed sexual assault. So, I know Donald Trump's type. So, she is going to attack him on character, on things that are solid, that have been a judge by juries and judges. So, she is going to do that part.
But then, I think the issues are incredibly, incredibly important. And there is a strong record that this administration, that she is part of this administration, has to run on, and she'll do that as well. I think this name calling coming from them just shows how desperate and flailing they are, because to Rina's point, I think this is going to really offend women. It's going to offend black women. And this opens up a whole new set of states that people thought were becoming out of reach, Georgia, North Carolina, Arizona. There was this perception that Biden can only run to the blue wall.
[11:50:00]
I think she can not only run in the blue wall but the Sun Belt is wide open now.
ASHER: Rina, the most pivotal, I shouldn't say the most, but maybe one of the most pivotal moments between now and November is going to be the debate, the debate that we think is going to happen. There has been obviously some back and forth. We think it's going to happen between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. I mean, what does she need to do to be able to do well against him? Donald Trump is not an easy person to debate because it's less about policy. It's much more about theatrics. He goes for the jugular. He insults. He belittles. He attacks. He humiliates. And if you're not willing to play that game, you either end up looking weak or in effective. I mean, it's not an easy line to sort of walk. Just explain to us how she manages to navigate that.
SHAH: Well, I myself have was at numerous Republican war rooms for campaigns as well as in debate prep. And I will tell you that, easily, anybody is vulnerable to getting chewed up and spit out by the former President of the United States. He doesn't care what you think of him. He cares about what he is going to do to you. And that's a tough thing because a lot of the debate game is mental. It's that mental prep you need. Harris is up for it, I think. I think she has proven this entire week that she can change herself. I'm not saying she is a chameleon. I'm saying she has shown she can do this pivot quite well.
I mean, even in miniscule moments, like changing her tone, it's clear she was trying to match the tone of her boss, Joe Biden, by appearing a little less energetic all these months and years, because what she has brought out now to the fore, Trump should be a little bit scared up. So, if I were advising Trump, which I'm not, I would say, don't debate her, because number one, they're going to try to, in debate prep, try to get Harris ready to debate on policy, which they should. And there is a lot being made of how Biden shouldn't have been so prepped going into that debate with Trump, that he was too prepped, and that it wasn't going to be about policy. It was going to be about style and fighting back, going mano a mano.
But again, going to Harris, she has to divorce herself of the record of Biden. She has got to -- even though Bidenomics on paper has some positive points, Republicans are going to tie her to the feeling of the economy that Biden has created. Going beyond that, she is going to have to get mentally ready, but I do think she is up for it. I do think Donald Trump would be worse off if he met her this version, this week's version of Kamala Harris, he'd be worse off if he met her on.
ASHER: That's interesting. So, it is Donald Trump this time who has the most today. That is very interesting. I didn't want to ask you one last question. I think we are up against the clock, though. I mean, obviously, Kamala Harris has a lot on her plate in terms of unifying the Democratic Party over the policy when it comes to Gaza because the Democrats are not singing from the same hymn sheet when it comes to that issue. But, we have to leave it there. I'm told that we are out of time.
Brad Woodhouse, Rina Shah, live for us there, thank you both so much.
All right. In today's one more thing, rapper Snoop Dogg has a new gig. We'll get him fixed. We'll show you the special honor he had leading up to the opening ceremony.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ASHER: All right. Before we go, one more thing. From rapper to Olympic
torch bearer, U.S. hip-hop legend Snoop Dogg carried the torch through the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis. Snoop, whose real name is Calvin Broadus, was one of the final Olympic torch bearers. He'll be providing regular reports on the Olympics. He'll -- he is also expected to explore Paris and share his experiences for segments throughout the Olympics as well.
[11:55:00]
And a program note for you. Do tune in to our special one-hour program aiming for goal today at 07:00 p.m. Paris time. That's one o'clock in the afternoon if you are on the eastern side of the United States. Join CNN's Amanda Davies, Melissa Bell, and Coy Wire to experience all of the excitement ahead of the opening ceremony.
All right. Thank you so much for spending part of your day with me. I'm Zain Asher in New York. Stick with CNN. I'll have more news with One World up next.
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