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Polls Suggest Harris Has Tightened Race Against Trump; Trump Doubles Down As He Tries To Dent Harris' Momentum; Hezbollah Behind Strike That Killed 12 Children In Golan Heights; Park Fire Threaten Four Northern CA Counties, 20 Structures Destroyed; Republicans Ramp Up Anti-Harris Rhetoric, Most Of It Untrue; U.S. Arrests Alleged Cartel Leaders In Texas; Simone Biles Fights Through Apparent Lower Leg Injury In Olympic Return. Aired 2-3p ET

Aired July 28, 2024 - 14:00   ET

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

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[14:00:35]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello everyone. Thank you so much for joining me this Sunday.

I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

And we begin this hour, 100 days from Election 2024, and a presidential race that has been completely altered in the last week.

In the seven days since President Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee, she has moved at lightning speed to unite and energize the Democratic Party.

Today, the Harris campaign announced that she has already raised a staggering $200 million and signed up 170,000 new volunteers in the past week. She has also made gains with voters as several polls show her tightening the race with Trump.

Both candidates have spent the weekend on the campaign trail. Donald Trump trying out new lines of attack and trying to define his rival. Harris, highlighting her record and calling out her opponent's, quote, "wild lies".

We've got team coverage of the presidential race. Let's begin with CNN's Julia Benbrook at the White House.

Julia, good to see you today. So what can you tell us about the Harris campaign strategy for these final 100 days?

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, as you mentioned, this is now an entirely different race and the Democrats are feeling the momentum of having a new candidate at the top of the ticket.

In that memo today, they said that they'd raised $200 million since Biden stepped out of the race last Sunday. And of that 66 percent of those donations came from first-time donors. They also are highlighting organizing efforts, 170,000 new volunteers.

And they said that they've had over 2,000 events in battleground states just this weekend.

There's also a lot of talk about her trying to meet different generations and appeal to groups like Gen Z. She recently joined TikTok and has gained millions of followers on that. She's gained a lot of followers on that.

Now this is all happening as former president Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris try to decide how to speak about each other on the campaign trail. And during recent events Trump has called Harris "evil". He's made fun of her laugh and he's also gone as far as to say that the American dream is dead if Harris wins the election in November.

She has then turned around and responded to those comments at a rally on Saturday. She called them "wild lies" and then went on to say that their quote, "plain weird"

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You may have noticed Donald Trump has been resorting to some wild lies about my record. And some of what he and his running mate are saying -- just plain weird. And that's (INAUDIBLE), right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BENBROOK: And that's a line that she and her allies have started to use while speaking and stumping out on the campaign trail.

Now, party officials have said that they hope to have the presidential and vice-presidential nominees decided upon by August 7th.

There's also a lot to do before August 19. That's the start of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago and we expect that they're going to be changing some of those plans with a new person at the top of the ticket and a new VP still to be decided.

And they'll be working to highlight Harris' political strengths as well as her personality.

WHITFIELD: And Julia, I mean, several possible vice-presidential candidates have, you know, been out on the trail.

They've been on the airwaves as showing their support for Harris and at the same time attacking the Trump ticket. What more can you tell us about that strategy? And if anyone is kind of seemingly more out in front than the other in terms of being Harris possible pick.

BENBROOK: Well, we're hearing that she is considering about a dozen potential VP picks and considering a lot in that process, how they're going to help even her out on a ticket and help her in key battleground states. Now I mentioned earlier that this talking point of Trump and Ohio

Senator J.D. Vance, his running mate, are just "plain weird". That's what Democrats are saying.

And we have another example of that with one of these potential VP picks, governor of Minnesota Tim Walz. Here's a little bit of what he had to say on "STATE OF THE UNION" earlier today.

[14:04:53]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. TIM WALZ (D), MINNESOTA: Listen to the guy. He's talking about Hannibal Lecter and you know, shocking sharks and just whatever crazy thing pops into his mind. And I thought we just give him way too much credit.

And I think one of the things is when you just ratchet down some of the, you know, the scariness or whatever and just name it what it is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BENBROOK: So we expect to hear that repeatedly on the trail from Democrats. And again, that August 7th deadline, we should know more about the VP pick soon.

All right. We'll see. Julia Benbrook at the White House, thanks so much.

So as Harris focuses on a vice-presidential choice, Trump's campaign is sharpening its attacks on her. Trump hit the campaign trail on Saturday, speaking at a cryptocurrency convention in Nashville and holding a joint campaign rally with his running mate, J.D. Vance in Minnesota.

The former president used both events to lash out at Harris as she scrambles to find -- as he, rather, tries to define -- scrambles ways to find -- to try to define her. Sorry about that.

CNN's Alayna Treene has details.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Well Fred, former President Donald Trump really escalated his attacks on Vice President Kamala Harris last night, and some of them grew increasingly nasty.

We saw him really try to deploy new lines as he's workshopping the best way to define her. He went after her and said she was more radically liberal than President Joe Biden. He argued that she is way worse than he is.

And he also tried to focus a lot of his attacks on her positions when it comes to immigration, crime, inflation -- all areas where I know that the Trump campaign is urging Donald Trump to focus on because those are the types of policies they believe he polls better on than Democrats. Now, another very notable moment during that rally last night was he actually noted that some people have argued to him perhaps they thought he would be nicer in the aftermath of the assassination attempt on his life earlier this month.

He said actually, I might be worse, and joking there. But then he continued to lob more criticisms at Harris. Take a listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: We have a new candidate to defeat. The most incompetent, unpopular, and far-left vice president in American history. Probably the most far left person in American history.

As a senator, she was ranked the number one most radical left Democrat in the entire Senate. They say she made Bernie Sanders look like a moderate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: Now Fred, I also want you to watch this moment because I found it really striking. He was about to go after Joe Biden and mock him, a kind of stick that we've seen him do time and time again in the last year or so.

But then he abruptly stopped himself and said, this actually might be a waste of time. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Sarcasm doesn't work when you have a crooked press. You know, when I imitated him -- because Biden -- and I don't want to waste a lot of time, but because it's over now, right. He's gone.

I told you he would be -- I told you he wasn't going to make it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: So Fred, the reason I find that so interesting is because, you know, when I talked to Donald Trump's senior campaign advisers, they'll privately acknowledged that they are still finding the best way to go after her and to define Harris.

Remember for the last year-and-a-half, really this entire election cycle so far, they have designed a playbook to go after an unpopular 81-year-old man. They've spent millions of dollars on modeling data, advertising, all to go after Joe Biden.

And now they really need to re-imagine that and re-work that playbook and we kind of saw Donald Trump do that last night, but it was very clear that he was trying to focus his attacks and his attention on Harris as he looks ahead to November, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Alayna Treene, thank you so much. And this breaking news now, the U.S. says the strike in the Golan Heights that killed 12 children was carried out by the militant group Hezbollah and says it should be universally condemned.

Also, new this hour, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is meeting with senior members of his government as they weigh their next steps.

Israel is warning Hezbollah will pay the price for the attack. Israeli war planes have already struck the Iran-backed group deep inside Lebanon. The incident is fueling fears of an all-out war on Israel's northern border.

It all comes as CIA director Bill Burns is in Rome for a new round of Gaza ceasefire talks.

We've got full coverage for you.

Jeremy Diamond is in the Golan Heights, Ben Wedeman is in Lebanon, and Barbie Nadeau is in Rome.

Jeremy, Let's go to you first. What more are you learning about that strike, that attack?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well Fredricka, just an absolutely devastating attack on the Druze community of Majdal Shams.

12 children are dead after a rocket struck a soccer field in the heart of that community absolutely devastating it.

[14:09:49]

DIAMOND: Earlier today, we saw thousands of people coming out to pay their respects and that scene is continuing this evening.

As you can see behind me, people -- children have come out here to light candles in remembrance of the 12 victims. And we also know, of course, that there are dozens more who are still in the hospital injured in this attack.

At this hour, as all of this is happening, the Israeli prime minister is currently sitting down with his security cabinet to discuss what Israel's response will be.

And while it is not yet clear exactly how Israel will respond, multiple Israeli officials from the prime minister on down have made very clear that there will be a forceful response to this attack which they have described as the deadliest attack on civilians in Israel or in Israeli-controlled territory like the Golan Heights since October 7th.

And therefore, there will be a response. The question is how forceful will that response be? And to what extent will that escalate this long-simmering conflict between Israel and Hezbollah? There have been fears for months now that an incident like this one --

one in which many civilians were killed, perhaps even many children, as sadly happened in this incident, could perhaps trigger that escalation that could lead to all-out war.

So right now, this is a community that is not only waiting to see how the Israeli government will respond to this attack, but it's also one, of course, that is very much still in mourning, very much devastated by this attack that left 12 children ripped from this world, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Jeremy, thank you so much.

Ben Wedeman to you now. The U.S. says that Hezbollah did carry out this attack. What, if anything, is Hezbollah saying.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Hezbollah from very soon after this incident denied any involvement in the attack.

And CNN was able to speak to a senior Hezbollah media advisor today who said that because of the rising tensions that the group is now in a state of mobilization, that some of its posts have already been evacuated in anticipation for some sort of Israeli action.

Now, Hezbollah today has claimed only two strikes on Israeli targets. According to the Lebanese National News Agency, there were six separate Israeli strikes or bombardments within Lebanese territory.

So not necessarily outside of the normal range of action that happens normally on a daily basis along the border between the two countries.

Now, because of the rising tensions, Middle East Airlines, the Lebanese national carrier, has delayed several flights that were supposed to fly into Beirut this evening until tomorrow morning.

And the United States embassy, which is north of Beirut, has strongly urged Americans to reconsider any travel plans to Beirut.

Now, I flew into Beirut today and I can tell you that the airport was crammed with people not leaving, but rather arriving many of them American passport holders.

So it's not altogether clear that that message is getting through, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Ben Wedeman, thanks so much.

Let's go to Barbie Nadeau now in Rome, where these ceasefire talks are scheduled to take place involving the CIA director. Might this impact that schedule in any way?

BARBIE LATZA NADEAU, CNN REPORTER: Well, you know, these talks are over. They were scheduled today and, of course, this was planned in advance. So the playing field for such a delicate negotiation was not exactly what the parties would want. The only thing that we've heard and this was the CIA director and his

counterparts from Israel, Egypt, and Qatar. And what we know so far it has come from the Israelis there. Their Mossad chief has gone back already as the talks ended early this afternoon and released a statement from the prime minister's office.

It said that the document -- the proposal conveyed by Israel was discussed with quote-unquote "clarifications", and that these very fragile peace talks would continue at a later date in the future.

We don't know when that will be, and we don't know if it will be again held here in the Italian capital, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: I see.

All right. Barbie Nadeau, Jeremy Diamond, and Ben Wedeman, thanks to all of you. Appreciate it.

All right. Coming up, California's Park Fire is now larger than the size of the city of Phoenix, which is about 520 square miles. Thousands of California residents forced to leave their homes. How firefighters are working to get the upper hand.

Plus, the plot thickens in the high-profile arrest of two accused drug cartel leaders. One of their lawyers now saying that his client was kidnapped.

[14:14:48]

WHITFIELD: And she's back and knows no boundaries. Simone Biles again proving why she is one of the best to grace the floor. How her heart and grit have helped Team U.S.A. advance to the next round.

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WHITFIELD: Happening right now, fire crews are just starting to make some progress on containing California's massive Park Wildfire.

[14:19:50]

WHITFIELD: It has scorched more than 350,000 acres so far and is 12 percent contained. Evacuation orders and warnings are now in effect for four northern California counties.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was ready to go to bed and I hear this pounding on the door and I opened it up and he goes "Fire Department. Get your stuff. You're leaving." I said oh, not again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: CNN's Camila Bernal is on the ground in northern California for us. Camila, you drove through that fire-ravaged Butte County. And what are you seeing today? CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Fred. It's really sad

to see that about 350,000 acres look a lot like what you see here behind me, just destroyed areas by these flames. And what I'm being told is at that the center of the fire is still very aggressive. It's still in very steep terrain and it's very difficult for these firefighters to get to those areas.

So you add the high temperatures, the wind, the lower humidity, and that's why this fire exploded over the last couple of days. Finally today, just some progress from those firefighters.

Now, in the area where I am now, we believe the fire came down this hill and made its way into some of the communities, some of the area where I am right now.

And I'm going to show you because there is an update on the number of structures destroyed. We were told by CalFire that the number went down to 66 structures.

And what they say is they now have more people to be on the ground. They are assessment teams that are going house by house to check and to see exactly what this fire did.

The number of resources has dramatically increase. They now have almost 4,000 people on the ground that more than essentially doubled over the last couple of days. And so that also has helped directly address the flames.

And what I was told to what is that they were able to have a more direct impact on those flames. What I was also told today is that the county, Butte County is a priority for firefighters because they lived through that 2018 fire, the deadliest fire in California history.

And so anecdotally, from just talking to people, what I've also heard is that people appear to have taken those warnings seriously in terms of evacuations and in terms of packing up and being ready to go.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I didn't want to wait for -- to go because I was thinking on the Paradise Fire and all the cars that didn't make it. And I didn't want to get caught in that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERNAL: And Fred, today has been the first day that I hear some sort optimism from firefighters so they expect more progress in the coming days.

So again, still a lot of work to be done, but finally, some containment.

WHITFIELD: All right. A lot of destruction though along the way.

Camila Bernal, thank you so much.

CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar is here. Allison, California, you know, Fire officials say the higher humidity, lower temperatures help. Do they?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. We saw those containment numbers jump by at least 10 percent in the last 24 hours. So yes, it helped a little bit.

The question is, how much more increase in those containment numbers can they get before conditions are expected to get worse later this week?

And that's not the only fire. I mean, you take a look at this map. We have over 90 active wildfires in nearly a dozen western states. So there's a lot of them going on. But yes, the focus really becomes around the Park Fire simply because of how quickly it spread.

We know that it has burned over 350,000 acres so far just since late Wednesday. To put that in perspective, that's burning about 50 to 60 football fields on average, every single minute since it started.

One of the concerns today, these pink areas here where you still have some of those lower humidity levels and some gusty winds up around 30 to 35 miles per hour. That can take any existing fires and spread those embers very, very quickly.

It's not just spreading fires, it's also spreading the smoke. So you have all of these air quality alerts out here. This is a concern for any folks that have maybe respiratory problems or illnesses.

This smoke is expected to be incredibly thick, especially not just today, but through Monday as well. So that's going to be a concern.

Weve talked about it though, those temperatures starting to go right back up, Fred. That's going to be a concern especially for the firefighters themselves with all that gear that they wear, having those temperatures in the triple digits.

WHITFIELD: Oh, my goodness.

And ok, this is the throes of hurricane season and now it's time to focus on a portion of the Atlantic. And that has piqued the interest of the National Hurricane Center?

CHINCHAR: Yes.

WHITFIELD: Oh boy.

CHINCHAR: So we've got to take a look at this particular system. It's not really -- doesn't really look like much right now. It's just kind of a blob that sitting there, but yes, potentially in the next day or so once it gets into more of a favorable environment, then it has the potential to perhaps become the next named storm. And then we really have to pay attention to where it goes from there, whether there's any U.S. interest or what that ends up happening with that storm. The next name on the list is Debbie.

[14:24:46]

WHITFIELD: Debbie. All right. Debbie, stay away.

All right. Thank you so much, Allison Chinchar. Appreciate it.

All right. The vice president has been at the top of the Democratic ticket for just a week now. But she's already changing the race. We'll break it down, coming up.

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WHITFIELD: All right. With just 100 days until Americans select a new president, a new polling shows Vice President Kamala Harris getting a noticeable bump in favorability since becoming the presumptive Democratic nominee.

[14:29:46]

WHITFIELD: A new ABC News/Ipsos poll shows Harris with a favorability rating of 43 percent compared to Donald Trump's 36 percent. That's an improvement for Harris from a poll released the previous week, where 35 percent viewed her favorably.

I'm joined now by a Julie Roginsky, a Democratic strategist. I think we have you -- there you are, ok. Hi.

Also with me, Charlie Dent. He's a former Republican congressman from Pennsylvania.

Great to see you both.

All right. Julia, you first, what does this poll say about how voters are seeing Harris beyond her vice presidency and now topping the Democratic ticket?

JULIE ROGINSKY, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, she's had a pretty amazing rollout. And I think it's given Democrats a breath of fresh air and a lot of confidence going into this election.

But look, Democrats also understand the assignment and the assignment is to make sure that we preserve our democracy, that we make it to her 250th anniversary in two years, being the country that we are and not what Donald Trump wants it to be, which is by his own admission potentially the last election of our lifetime, as he said. We don't have to vote again in four years of who vote for him this year.

So Democrats, not just Democrats, but I think a lot of independents and even some Republicans understand the assignment which is to make sure that our country continues to be the democracy we all want it to be, and not what Donald Trump has said, which is effectively as he said, is dictatorship on day one.

WHITFIELD: And, Charlie, we have yet to hear them really go at it on policy, you know, versus policy instead, right now, Trump is trying to define Harris in his own way by name calling, you know? But is he burning up valuable time in what seems to be a rather futile effort?

CHARLIE DENT (R), FORMER PENNSYLVANIA CONGRESSMAN: Yeah, I tend to think so. He has an opportunity to try to define her right now. He wants to -- he wants to smash her on the border. He wants to smash her on inflation, in any other issues they believe that Democrats are vulnerable on.

So to the extent he engages in ad hominem attacks, name-calling, insults, I don't think he's doing anything but further alienating a lot of voters who don't like that about him -- you know, the insults. That's why his unfavorabilities are so high.

And I think the Trump people have to understand that, you know, any Democrat, a wet mop is going to get 45 percent of the vote against Donald Trump. His -- Trump's ceiling is so low and Trump is doing nothing to expand his base. He selected J.D. Vance who brought no new constituencies to the team.

So I think this is a problem for Trump. He should be defining her right now on policy. But it's easier for him just to name call.

WHITFIELD: And also to that, Charlie, you know, Harris really appears to have the momentum. I mean, Julia just said that, you know, she's raking -- Harris is raking in fundraising cash, $200 million thus far. She's got a vice presidential pick that she and her campaign say will be made by August 7, the Democratic National Convention August 19.

So, then, Charlie, how do you see Trump trying to get the spotlight back on him because he's certainly going to be on the backburner, you know, because of all of these events, especially at least for the first couple of weeks of August.

DENT: Well, I think right now for Trump, if he really -- he really needs to slow down her momentum, and it gets back to the original question. He needs to start pounding her on policy issues and defining her as quickly as he can, but he isn't doing that.

And, you know, Harris, despite all the momentum and she has momentum, I think she's going to help the Democrats in Georgia, especially, probably North Carolina, remains to be seen how she's going to help in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin, and that's why this whole vice presidential choice becomes really important. This is why she needs to be ruthlessly pragmatic and select somebody like Josh Shapiro who can help her win Pennsylvania.

Frankly, she could lose Arizona and win the election, but she cannot lose Pennsylvania and win the election. So right now, though, to slow the momentum, Trump is going to have to define her, but he's not a disciplined candidate. Never was. And you'd think his team would start to ratcheting up the messaging now.

WHITFIELD: So, Julie, does she have vulnerabilities that would allow inroads for Trump to slow that momentum?

ROGINSKY: Well, sure, look, she's not a safe choice, right? We've seen the experiment with nominating a woman before, and I hate to say this because I run an organization that's dedicated to empowering women. But there was a tremendous amount of misogyny in this country.

And, of course, as a woman of color. She faces not just misogyny, but racism. We've seen that already from Trump's supporters over and over again.

But I will say this and Congressman Dent makes a really good point. How does something with Trump's complete toxicity towards women, towards -- towards not just women, but actually with respect to women's rights like Roe versus Wade, the overturning of Roe versus Wade, J.D. Vance's vote against IVF. All the crazy things that were now seeing that J.D. Vance and Donald Trump are saying about women, how does that play in places like the collar counties of Philadelphia, right? In Bucks County, in Northampton County, in Montgomery County in Pennsylvania, which Congressman Dent obviously knows very well, he doesn't.

And the more he sits there and attacks and attacks her on issues of gender, attacks her on issues of race, attacks her as a, quote/unquote, idiot or dope or however he tries to demean her when she's, of course, an incredibly accomplished women, that doesn't fly with suburban women, even suburban women who typically vote Republican.

[14:35:04]

It doesn't, it didn't fly in '16 for him in places like that. It certainly didn't fly in '20 in places like that, and never flew in the midterm elections for him when he was president and afterwards. So, you know, he's got to be very careful about how he characterizes her.

If he were to attack her on the issues, that's one thing. But he's not. He's not disciplined enough to do that. He's going after her personally and I truly think it's going to backfire for him.

WHITFIELD: All right. We'll leave it there for now.

Charlie Dent, Julie Roginsky, thank you so much.

All alright. Vice President Kamala Harris is heading into her second week as a presidential candidate with what might be one of the most important endorsements that she could get, a phone call from the Obamas, and with that support, of course, comes more attacks as well. Republicans ramping up the rhetoric against Harris, and with a lot of claims outright false claims.

Here's CNN's Tom Foreman.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I say bring it on. Bring it on.

(CHEERING) TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Amid cheers from fans and jeers from foes, Vice President Kamala Harris is being pelted by Republican claims about her life and career, many unfounded. At his first rally since Harris became the presumptive nominee, former President Donald Trump tore into what he said are her views on Social Security.

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: She's talking about re -- let's take the retirement age.

FOREMAN: On when abortion should be legal.

TRUMP: Even after birth, the execution of a baby.

FOREMAN: And on his own legal cases, which he long blamed on President Joe Biden.

TRUMP: It was all headed up by her.

FOREMAN: All three of those cases about his opponent are patently false, but never mind.

SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS HOST: By the way, on this show, our vetting has only begun.

FOREMAN: While some right-wing media stars are erupting over the new Democratic challenger, others are accusing Harris with no evidence of building her career primarily on race and gender. Some on the right in the past rebooted Trump's birther claims against former President Barack Obama by falsely saying Harris, who is born in California to immigrant parents, is not a U.S. citizen, now they say switching Biden to Harris on ballot this fall is illegal.

Listen to Trump's running mate.

VANCE: This was fundamentally illegitimate.

FOREMAN: And Republican speaker of the House, Mike Johnson.

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: It would be wrong. And I think unlawful in accordance to some of these states rules for a handful of people to go in a backroom and switch it out because they're -- they don't like candidate any longer.

FOREMAN: But that's false, too. CNN contacted every state and aside from two which did not reply, they all said there are no obstacles to putting Harris on the ballot.

And on it goes.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): Kamala can't have my gun. She can't have my gasoline engine, and she sure as hell can't have my steaks and cheeseburgers.

FOREMAN: Suggestion that Harris wants to outright ban guns, gasoline, cars, and red meat, that she couldn't pass the bar exam, and is totally against Jewish people. All of those are false. (END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Tom Foreman, thanks so much.

All alright. After a historic week in presidential politics, "THE WHOLE STORY" looks at this historic rise of Kamala Harris, then the inside story of President Biden's withdrawal from the race. The two- hour event begins tonight, 8:00 Eastern, right here on CNN.

All right. The lawyer for a major alleged Mexican cartel leader is now suggesting that his client was kidnapped and did not surrender to American authorities after a surprise operation. Details next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:43:23]

WHITFIELD: The son of the infamous drug cartel boss El Chapo will appear in U.S. federal court on Tuesday. Joaquin Guzman Lopez was arrested in El Paso, Texas, on Thursday, alongside another alleged drug cartel leader named Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada Garcia. Sources tell CNN that Guzman Lopez helped organize their arrest with U.S. officials.

The Mexican government is now furious with U.S. law enforcement for not warning them about the planned operation.

Joining me, again, this weekend is CNN national correspondent Rafael Romo. I mean, lots of twists and turns. Again, this is a new one.

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's a new one and we were talking about yesterday about how they were different versions from the U.S. and Mexico. And this is a totally different twist. The attorney for Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, the alleged co-founder of the Sinaloa cartel now says his client, neither for surrendered nor negotiated any terms with the U.S. government, but was instead listen to this, kidnapped.

I spoke earlier on the phone with Frank Perez, Zambada's attorney. He told me his 76-year-old client was kidnapped by Joaquin Guzman Lopez, son of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, the other co-founder of the Sinaloa cartel.

Joaquin Guzman Lopez, he said, forcibly kidnap my client. He was ambushed, thrown to the ground, and handcuffed by six men in military uniforms. And, Joaquin, his legs were tied and a black bag was placed over his head, Perez said in a statement sent to CNN. He was then thrown into the back of a pickup truck and taken to a landing strip. There, he was formed onto -- forced onto a plane, his legs tied to the seat by Joaquin and brought to the U.S. against his will.

[14:45:03]

The only people on the plane where the pilot, Joaquin and my client, Perez added. U.S. law enforcement officials had previously told CNN that Joaquin Guzman Lopez had duped Zambada and orchestrated their arrest by making him believed they were flying to northern Mexico to look at real estate. Instead, the official said their small private plane landed north of the border near El Paso, Texas, where U.S. authorities were waiting on the tarmac.

Former D.A. agent Jack Riley told CNN that Zambada managed to elude law enforcement for decades.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JACK RILEY, FORMER DEA AGENT: There's some speculation that Mayo Zambada may have been in the process of trying to negotiate a surrender I see that highly unlikely, giving -- given nowhere but he was in the organization. But this is a tremendous blow to Sinaloa. And I think it's important to understand that this guy has been around, Mayo Zambada has been around for 40 years. That's really unheard of for someone in his position.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: And CNN learned Saturday that whatever action the U.S. might have taken to arrest Zambada and Guzman Lopez prompted a furious behind the scenes reaction from the Mexican government. A U.S. official familiar with the operation said Mexican officials are demanding senior U.S. law enforcement explain exactly what Trump inspired in their own country.

Meanwhile, Guzman Lopez, a son of El Chapo is expected to -- expected to appear in federal court Tuesday in Chicago, his attorney told CNN, that the client declined further comment.

So, another twist to the case.

WHITFIELD: Fascinating. Yesterday I said it was a book or movie. Now I'm going back to its mini-series.

ROMO: At least episode.

WHITFIELD: Yeah, at least. Okay.

Rafael Romo. Thank you so much. Appreciate that.

All right. Straight ahead, Simone Biles power through an apparent injury to earn top scores at the Paris Olympics. How she's doing after putting on a star studded performance.

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[14:51:43]

WHITFIELD: All right. So neighbors in a Washington state community got quite the surprise from the sky, a hot air balloon made an unexpected landing near homes on a lake community just outside of Tacoma. Eight people were on board, some celebrating their 21st birthdays.

Well, during the trip, strong winds blew them off course, forcing the balloons pilot to land in what he deemed a safe area. Wow, take a look at that. That's crazy.

At one point, the balloon was hovering just ten feet above the homes neighbors help guide the balloon from the ground to an open street there so that thankfully they could land very safely and no one was hurt. But what a picture.

All right. Superstar Simone Biles is once again proving why she is considered one of the greatest gymnast of all time, fighting through an apparent leg injury during today's Olympic competitions in Paris, and still managing to earn a top score.

Should anybody be surprised?

So the U.S. women's gymnastics team is the most racially diverse in the team's history as well.

CNN's Coy Wire is joining us now from Paris.

I mean, she's phenomenal and so is that entire team.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR & CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, the Simone Biles comeback tour underway. That arena was packed, Fred. You had Tom Cruise, John legend, Ariana Grande there.

But during warm-ups, Simone injures herself. She's limping. The arena goes quiet but the GOAT rises up. Tapes her ankle, rallies, and dominates.

Her coach told us it's a lingering calf injury, but Biles put on this gutsy, iconic performance.

And as you mentioned the diversity of this team. She says that she's been inspired by those who it came before. There weren't many gymnast that looked like her growing up. Now, she is inspiring the next generation. Four of the five team USA gymnast are women of color. It's their most diverse team in history.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SIMONE BILES, U.S. WOMEN'S GYMNAST SUPERSTAR: I know what it's like being the only Black girl on the team and not having a role model.

WIRE (voice-over): Sometimes you have to see it before you can truly believe it.

CORRINNE TARVER, GYMNASTICS COACH, FORMER NCAA GYMANISTICS CHAMPION: It is so gratifying to seize such a diverse group of women who are going to represent this country. And it is truly shows that as a sport, we have come a long way.

WIRE: Four-time Olympic medalist Dominique Dawes was the first Black female gymnast to ever win in individual medal at the Olympics at the Atlanta Games in 1996. At the 2012 London Games, Gabby Douglas became the first Black gymnast to win an Olympic big all around competition.

Fast forward to today, and four of the five U.S. women's Olympic gymnastics team competing in Paris are women of color. It's the most racially diverse team in history.

TARVER: I was trying not to cry honestly when I saw the makeup of the team. I just kind of felt like in my heart, I truly felt, wow, we've finally gotten somewhere, finally able to truly show the talent that we had. And it has nothing to do with the color of ones skin. It has to do with what they do on the map.

WIRE: This year's squad, seven-time Olympic medalist Simone Biles, reigning all-around Olympic champ, Suni Lee, reigning Olympic floor champion, Jade Carey, 2020 Olympic teams silver medalist Jordan Chiles, and rookie Hezly Rivera, the youngest member of the entire team USA delegation.

[14:55:10]

BETTY OKNO, FORMER U.S. OLYMPIC GYMNAST: They have the next generation of kids growing up, that's not a question anymore if they can do gymnastics because they don't see anybody else that looks like them. You look at our team, our national team and you see diversity across the board. Not only Black and Brown girls, but you see all of the different colors.

JORDAN CHILES, U.S. OLYMPIC GYMNAST: When you see yourself in somebody else and somebody else can see themselves in, you, like, I think it only makes you feel, wow, like I've done something in this world. I've been able to change the culture and something or the diversity in something.

So I just hope I can continue to, you know, be that -- that little light for them.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WIRE: Now after a heck of a Sunday, fun day here, the U.S. locked up their spot in the team final. They're looking to level up from the silver they got at the last Summer Games, still subdivisions underway but as of now, Fred, it looks like for the five us gymnast will qualify for individual finals two, with Biles possibly qualifying for four if not five visual events. So, at lots of chances for more gold, for the GOAT in Paris.

WHITFIELD: Exciting, I cannot wait to watch it all.

Coy Wire, thank you so much.

WIRE: You got it.

WHITFIELD: All right. We're getting new information now about that deadly strike in Israel. CNN has reporters throughout the region.

Stay with us.

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