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US: Hezbollah Behind The Strike That Killed 12 Children In Golan Heights; Trump And Harris Trade Barbs In Newly Reshaped Race; Voting Underway In High Stakes Venezuelan Presidential Election; Aired 3-4p ET

Aired July 28, 2024 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:01:04]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield and we start this hour with breaking news.

A statement from the US National Security Council, just a short time ago saying 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 warplanes have already struck the Iran-backed group, deep inside Lebanon and 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 Latza Nadeau in Rome.

Jeremy, you first. How is Israel responding or preparing for a response that is.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Fred, the Israeli prime minister, is currently sitting down with his political and security Cabinet. These are the senior members of his governing coalition who are working through how the Israeli response will be calibrated. And that of course is the critical question at this hour, the Israeli prime minister was in Washington when this attack happened.

He early'ed up his departure from there by a couple of hours, landed back in Israel today. And quickly went into security consultations and now sitting down with that security Cabinet to determine how forceful an Israeli response will be.

What he has made clear though, is that there will be a response to what the Israeli government has described as a Hezbollah rocket attack that happened right behind me.

As you can see, this crater where there are now wreathes being laid right on top of it. This rocket attack happened at yesterday, around 6:00 PM and it was deadly and devastating, 12 children killed in this rocket strike yesterday. Dozens more injured, several of those still in the hospital at this hour. And I am currently in a community, Majdal Shams. It is a small community of Syrian Druze who are just absolutely rocked by this tragedy.

Throughout the day, there has been a steady stream of mourners first at the funeral procession as the caskets were taken through the community to their final resting place. We then met with the father of one of the little girls, 11-year-old, Alma (ph) who was killed in this strike. He is still working through how to exactly process the grief that he is now dealing with.

But there is no question that this is a community that has been forever changed by this attack and also a community that is asking for a response and waiting to see exactly what that will be -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Jeremy Diamond, thanks so much.

To you, Ben Wedeman while the US NSC is saying Hezbollah is responsible for this attack, Hezbollah has denied it. What are they saying now?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, they've denied it since shortly after this incident happened yesterday evening. We heard today from a senior media adviser to Hezbollah who said that the group is in a state of mobilization, that some of their military posts been evacuated, but really Hezbollah has been in a state of mobilization more or less since October 8th, when it first opened fire on Israel the day after Hamas' attacks over the border inside Israel itself.

[15:05:02]

Now as a result of these rising tensions, Middle East Airlines, the flight carrier for Lebanon has delayed some flights. They were due to fly into Beirut overnight until tomorrow morning. The US embassy here has told Americans too strongly reconsider any travel plans to Lebanon, particularly in light of the fact that it is highly likely that other airlines might change or cancel their flight plans.

Now, today, we also had an opportunity pretty to speak to Lebanon's caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib who told me that when it comes to Hezbollah, the Lebanese government is essentially helpless.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WEDEMAN: But does the Lebanese government have the ability to control Hezbollah?

ABDALLAH BOU HABIB, LEBANON'S CARETAKER FOREIGN MINISTER: Let's see. The choicest thought is always bad and worse and I don't think we can do it. Let me be frank with you, but we always communicate with them. On my way here, somebody from their office called me and you know, we always talk with each other. Prime Minister, of course the speaker speaks with them.

WEDEMAN: But do they listen to you?

BOU HABIB: They do. There is a lot of negotiations, give and take and they listen. Would they listen to stop? No. Because they started in support of what's going on in Gaza.

So I don't think they are going to listen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WEDEMAN: The foreign minister also said that if Israel does go to war, full-scale war against Hezbollah, it won't just be fighting Hezbollah, it will be fighting the Houthis in Yemen, various militias in Iraq and Syria, all of which could amount to essentially a massive regional war -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And that is a great worry.

All right, thank you so much, Ben.

Onto a Barbie Latza Nadeau there in Rome. What more do we know about these ceasefire talks and how this strike in Golan Heights has impacted it?

BARBIE LATZA NADEAU, CNN ROME CORRESPONDENT: Yes. You know, I mean, they would have hoped for a different playing field entirely when these talks were scheduled a little bit later last week, scheduled for today here in Rome. This was the head of the CIA with his counterparts from Israel, from Egypt, and from Qatar.

Now the only thing we've got on the record so far from this meeting has come from the Israeli Prime Minister's Office who said that they did in fact discuss the proposal, the document conveyed by Israel with "clarifications" and that these talks would convene in the coming days.

Now what we don't know is what that means in terms of timing and we don't know where those will happen, if they'll be back here in the Italian capital, if they will be happening somewhere else and we haven't yet heard from the American side of this about what went down with those talks and what sort of optimism there is.

There is certainly urgency and optimism, perhaps another thing -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Barbie Latza Nadeau, thanks to all of you. Appreciate it.

All right, we are now just 100 days from 2024 election and the two parties are scrambling to adjust to a presidential race that has been completely upended in the past 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 quickly moved to energize and unite the Democratic Party.

And recent polls show Harris tightening the race with Donald Trump. The former president spent this weekend on the campaign trail sharpening his attacks and ramping up the rhetoric on his new political rival.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have a new victim now, Kamala. We have a new victim.

(BOOING)

TRUMP: The most incompetent, unpopular, and far-left vice president in American history, probably the most far-left person in American history.

If a crazy liberal like Kamala Harris gets in, the American Dream is dead. I believe it is dead. I believe it is dead. They're trying to make her into a let's say, Margaret Thatcher. I don't think so. It's not going to happen.

Margaret Thatcher didn't laugh like that, did she?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, meantime, Vice President Harris continues to ride the momentum from a wave of Democratic support and cash. Today, the Harris Campaign announced she has already raised a staggering $200 million and signed up 170,000 new volunteers in the past week since becoming the presumptive nominee.

CNN's Julia Benbrook is at the White House for us.

Good to see you again.

So, Harris also hit the campaign trail this weekend, right, where she is defending her record and she pushed back on some of Trump's rhetoric, calling a lot of it wild lies.

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, and you played some of Trump's comments there. He has called her evil. He has made fun of her laugh and he has gone on to say that the American Dream is dead if Harris wins in November.

[15:10:04]

Now, she is responding and she has called these comments wild lies, but she is also been leaning into a new term that Democrats have been using out on the campaign trail.

She said his comments are just 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 is just plain weird.

I mean, that's the box you put that in, right?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BENBROOK: And Democrats are really feeling the momentum right now with Vice President Kamala Harris now at the top of the ticket They brought in $200 million in donations since Biden announced that he would not be seeking re-election just last week and a really remarkable thing about that is, is they say that 66 percent of those donations were from first-time donors.

They also have 170,000 new volunteers for the campaign and said that there were more than 2,000 campaign events in battleground states just this weekend.

WHITFIELD: And Julia, I mean, several possible vice presidential candidates have also been on the trail and they've been hitting the airwaves, showing their support for her and also attacking the Trump ticket. What more can you tell us about how Harris is perhaps whitling down the list and how close she is to making a pick.

BENBROOK: Well, party officials have said that they hope to have the presidential and vice presidential candidates made official by August 7th, so that date is coming very quickly and we've heard that they've been looking into about a dozen potential VP picks.

Among them, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, and Walz was one that has used this weird comment, he was one of the first to try and frame Republicans that way and he discussed why he is using not specific word on "State of the Union" earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. TIM WALZ (D-MN): Listen to the guy. He is talking about, Hannibal Lecter and you 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, 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 again, they are looking toward that August 7th deadline for this VP pick and then we've got to remember, the Democratic National Convention is also coming quickly, August 19th in Chicago.

WHITFIELD: Yes, right around the corner. All right, thank you so much, Julia Benbrook.

All right, right now, voters are at the polls in Venezuela for an election that could have major consequences on that country and at the US southern border. We are live next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:17:30]

WHITFIELD: All right now, voting is underway in Venezuela for a crucial presidential election that could impact the US southern border.

The incumbent and candidate, strongman, Nicolas Maduro, who ruled over the country since 2013, is facing his toughest political challenge from the opposing party. Last week, Maduro said Venezuela could face "a blood bath" if he is not re-elected.

Voters dealt with violent clashes and long lines at polling sites today. Let's bring in now CNN contributor, Stefano Pozzebon, who is on the ground there in Caracas, Venezuela.

So Stefano, I mean, this election has been touted as one of the most consequential in the whole region. What are the stakes here both for Venezuela and at the southern US border?

STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, Fredricka, we are coming to you live from one of those lone lines that you mentioned in one of the voting center here in Central Caracas. Some of the people behind me have been waiting and lining up since 7:00 AM, 8:00 AM. It is now 3:00 PM and they're still waiting to cast their vote because voting procedures are quite slow.

But that tells you how much these people care to express their votes and how high the stakes are. If Maduro was to be ousted, if Venezuela were to return to a democracy, it will be the dominant story in Latin America.

But a lot is at stake for the United States as well. Take a listen to what one of the voters told me earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMELIA PEREZ, VENEZUELAN VOTER: I am doing this for my kids and for my grandchildren. I want them to come back, the ones who are living in broad and as me, there are many people in this country to do the same thing, wants the same thing.

My son lives in Washington He has two kids and the other two lives here. But all my family, it's abroad.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

POZZEBON: Just like Amelia Perez, that voter that I spoke with today, so many other Venezuelans have families are abroad that they hope they could come and so many here are telling us that they would be ready to leave this country if Maduro was to be confirmed in this election.

You can expect a migrant wave coming out of Venezuela in the fall if this was to occur. And of course, them coming up at the US southern border in the months of April -- of October, sorry, Fredricka or November. It would have an enormous impact on the US campaign.

I think that just last year, Venezuelans were the second largest national group apprehended at the US southern border by the Custom and Border Patrol.

[15:20:10]

WHITFIELD: Lots going on and it seems like this too is still just the beginning stages, right?

POZZEBON: I know.

WHITFIELD: Stefano Pozzebon, thank you so much.

All right, 100 days to go until Americans make their choice for president and the swing states are going to be critical. We will break it all down with Harry Enten coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, we are exactly 100 days away from the presidential election and the last seven days saw the race completely altered with Vice President Kamala Harris becoming the presumptive Democratic nominee.

[15:25:03]

Former President Donald Trump, now scrambling to figure out how to define her and slow her momentum. Well, this weekend, he used a pair of campaign speeches to lash out at his new political rival with several new attack lines.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: If a crazy liberal like Kamala Harris gets in, the American Dream is dead.

She made Bernie Sanders look like a moderate.

We have a man that can't put two sentences together, and now we are replacing him with worse than he is, a dangerous person who is not smart. You know she couldn't pass the law exam, right?

Kamala wants to be the president for criminals and illegal aliens.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: I am joined now here on set by Maya King, a politics reporter for "The New York Times," also with me, Renee Graham and associate editor and columnist with "The Boston Globe."

Great to see you both.

MAYA KING, POLITICS REPORTER, "THE NEW YORK TIMES": Oh, thanks for having me.

WHITFIELD: Wonderful. So Maya, you first.

I mean, Trump has made it clear in Harris' first week as the presumptive nominee on top of the ticket that he is not going to be nice. He said last night, you know, he has not changed. Harris says that she knows his type, so what do you expect is likely to unfold with now just 100 days of this campaigning.

KING: Well, obviously the vice president has a lot of work to do in defining herself and her own policy record, but I think the issue that republicans are now feeling that they are running into is how they define her outside of her race and gender.

We saw over the last week a number of attacks calling her a DEI president or a diversity hire, trying to discount her on the basis of her race and her gender, where a number of Republican strategists that I've talked to say there are plenty of policies that we can point to that actually are better for us, winning issues electorally and actually calling her out on these basis of demographics alienates the same kinds of voters that they are hoping to make inroads with this November.

WHITFIELD: I guess, it is easier from the Trump Campaign point of view to go in the direction that he is going. Do you think going after her policy later is likely to be part of his strategy?

KING: I think so, but we also know that the former president has a hard time staying on message, but the strategy of pointing out some of the policies that they can tie her to on President Biden, on the economy, on the border. These are the things that Republicans know they can win with Independent voters on.

But the Harris Campaign is now reinvigorated. It has an entire league of base voters who are now far more enthusiastic about their candidate atop the ticket -- Black voters, women, young voters, especially. These are all folks who I think are ready and willing to support the vice president for president, but also are waiting to hear some of her policy plans as well.

WHITFIELD: And Renee, I mean, underscoring that, in these next 100 days, each of these candidates needs to grow support, and each have different obstacles in which to do that.

Harris has a lot of momentum right now as Maya was saying, $200 million in fundraising, grassroots organizations backing her, fraternities and sororities including hers. Of course, AKA, young voters and celebrities excited about her.

So how does she capitalize further in the next week before she names her running mate?

RENEE GRAHAM, ASSOCIATE EDITOR AND COLUMNIST, "THE BOSTON GLOBE": I think one important thing she needs to continue to do is double down on the issues and the policies that are not only important to her, but important to the Democratic Party. So when we're talking about reproductive rights and also the threat that the loss of Roe v. Wade means to other rights and other things that are considered settled law because she can't just run on the momentum of the moment, she has to then start to concretize -- to make concrete the idea she has about how she moves this country forward.

If she is trying to create this contrast between herself and Donald Trump, everything Trump is talking about is about dragging the country back into a dark and dangerous time. She needs to bring this country back to the light and show them how she is going to get them there.

It is an interesting thing because Democrats generally are the party of fretting and they've been fretting throughout this entire year. They're not doing that anymore. They have this momentum, but they now need to take that and make sure that will become votes in November.

WHITFIELD: And Maya, you know, Trump's strategy continues, of course, to be go low. You know, try to belittle Harris by mispronouncing her name over and over again using words like you just said, DEI liberal as criticisms.

You know, she has been a first many times over as a prosecutor and even in her political career. So is Trump underestimating her ability to deflect and possibly capitalize on the words that he is using? I mean, for starters, she was talking about yesterday, I mean, it's just a little weird. That's kind of been her new mantra.

[15:30:03]

KING: Yes, it is an important question. You know, I spent the week actually talking with Black women in politics, political strategists, and organizers and they all said this is nothing new and this is to be expected.

But again, thinking about the inroads that Republicans have aimed to make with Black voters on arguments like the economy and immigration, now going after the first Black woman, possibly the first Black woman president, but the first Black woman atop the Democratic ticket could backfire.

It could certainly alienated those same voters going after someone's race and gender over concrete policy, I think we are learning now is sort of a losing strategy when voters just care a lot more these days about what's right in front of them and the kitchen table, issues that matter the most where on the Democratic side, there is a lot of motivation to power this woman, this first to the White House.

WHITFIELD: And then Renee, the Harris Campaign has said a vice presidential pick, a running mate will come or be announced by August 7th.

So what are the characteristics that you think she will need to look for in her running mate, who will both uphold and help reinforce her strengths, and at the same time, be able to handle what is going to be a lot of incoming.

GRAHAM: Well, I think that obviously she is looking at people in states where the Democrats need to win, to win in November, so she is looking at Josh Shapiro, the governor of Pennsylvania. She is looking at Mark Kelly from Arizona. She is looking at Roy Cooper, where the Democrats have always thought they could possibly flip North Carolina where he is the governor.

So you see them all out on the trail now and they're all kind of campaigning for this role, but they're also reinforcing her message. So I really do think that the important thing for them to do is to have someone who continues to look balanced on the ticket, but also pushes this idea of the youth of the ticket, of the next generation of Democrats.

So, there is always the problem with Biden for a lot of people was it felt like the party was stuck in place When she picks her VP running mate, then it is going to look a lot like what they want the party to look like going forward and you have that almost regardless of who she picks, but especially when you're talking about people like Andy Beshear who is the governor of Kentucky, or Josh Shapiro in Pennsylvania, or even Gretchen Whitmer. Her name is coming back up even though she said she wasn't interested.

It is all about the party looking forward as opposed to the Republicans who clearly, clearly are looking back.

WHITFIELD: Yes, passing the baton, right? Olympic speaks since we are in the middle of the Olympics, too.

All right, Renee Graham, Maya King, great to see you both, ladies. Thank you so much and thanks for being with me on the set as well.

KING: Thanks for having me. Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Appreciate it.

All right, let's talk more about this presidential race. Joining me now to break down the numbers in the 2024 race is CNN senior data reporter, oh, I like that title now, Harry Enten, senior data reporter.

Okay, so Harry, break it down for us. Where does Vice President Harris and former President Trump stand in the national polling right now?

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: Yes. So you know, I also like that title by the way, but anyway, we will take a look at the national picture right now.

We are going to look of course at Harris v. Trump, and I want you to note, there hasn't necessarily been too much of a change from before Biden dropping out to now. The clear thing to take away from here is that there is no clear leader.

So pre-Biden dropping out, we had Trump up by two, well within the margin of error in our national average of polling. Now, what do we have? We have Trump up by one.

But here is the key difference. Why did Democrats make that change from Biden to Harris? Because at the same time that Trump was up two over Harris in the polling, he was up by -- get this -- six points over Joe Biden.

So, the real change that we've seen over the last week with that change from Biden to Harris is the change in the race in which we had a clear leader in Donald Trump, to erase that right now, it is just way too close to call nationally with Trump only ahead by a single point.

WHITFIELD: Right, and this is only after a week. So the Democrats --

ENTEN: Only after a week.

WHITFIELD: Right, the Democrats' easiest path to 270 electoral college votes went through the blue wall states of Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Is that still the case?

ENTEN: Yes, I would still think that it is the case and I want you to take a look at this polling that literally just came out after, of course Harris succeeded Biden on the Democratic ticket as the presumptive nominee.

So this is Harris versus Trump. Look at these tight races in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. Well, you can't get any closer than a tie in Michigan and Pennsylvania. How about in Wisconsin? No clear leader. Donald Trump, up by just a single point. My goodness gracious. How tight is that?

And why is that so important that these three states are so tight? I want you to go the electoral map, all right? If we basically say that Wisconsin, Michigan, and of course that key Commonwealth of Pennsylvania have no clear leader at this particular point, you could give Donald Trump all of those Sunbelt battleground states that Joe Biden won last time around -- Nevada, we go there. How about Arizona? We go there. We give him Georgia over there and get this, he doesn't get to 270 electoral votes.

[15:35:11]

He is only at 268, which means that this election could very well be decided in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania based off of those Fox News polls.

At this particular point, no matter whether you look nationally or you look at the battleground states, the only real thing you can take away is that there is no clear leader. That is what I am going to keep drilling in. It truly is a race to go with a hundred days.

WHITFIELD: That's right. It's a horse race indeed, kind of that last Kentucky derby finish, but we are not finished. We still have a hundred days to go.

Okay, so how is Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.'s efforts to get on the ballot in all 50 states potentially impacting this race?

ENTEN: It's much less of an impact now than it ever has been before. So this is the folks who are choosing RFK, Jr. for president. You go back to December of 2023. He was at 15 percent. You go back post- debate, he was at 10 percent, but now that we have Harris on the ticket instead of Biden, look at that. He's down to just five percent.

So the fact is, we are looking at a much less of an effect from RFK, Jr. and the one last thing I am going to point out, Fred, I am going to jump ahead. I know you have a question there, but I am going to jump ahead.

WHITFIELD: Yes. I am ready for it.

ENTEN: Because the producers in my ear telling me I have limited time, let's just point this out for you, okay? How far are the polls off at this point with a hundred days to go? There is so much that can change.

The average compared to where we normally end up, six points, the polls on average change from six points from now and the final margin and the biggest recent shift in memory, in 1988, there was a 26-point shift. Michael Dukakis was so far and ahead in the polls at this point. And of course, George HW Bush easily won that election.

And in this race, where so much has happened over the last month, don't be surprised if so much more happens. It's truly making me exhausted. I'm going to just have to have at least 45 more coffees just today to get myself through it.

WHITFIELD: Wait. No. No more coffee, please.

But you know what? Like a horse race, I'd say you could be like a horse race announcer. I like it. And I love the title.

ENTEN: I am trying my best.

WHITFIELD: Senior data correspondent or reporter, Harry Enten.

ENTEN: Thank you. Whatever.

WHITFIELD: Yes, I will take both -- reporter, correspondent. Thank you so much.

ENTEN: I'll see you later.

WHITFIELD: All right, we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:36:54]

WHITFIELD: All right, back to our lead story: The White House saying the militant group, Hezbollah is responsible for the strike and the Golan Heights that killed 12 children yesterday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is now meeting with senior members of his government as they weigh their next steps.

It is creating a dramatic background for a new round of Gaza ceasefire talks, which got underway today in Rome.

Let's bring in Gershon Baskin. He is a former hostage negotiator and the Middle East director for the International Communities Organization.

Great to see you as always.

So how much does what happened in Golan Heights in your view, complicate things?

GERSHON BASKIN, FORMER HOSTAGE NEGOTIATOR: Well, it would complicate things if we have a serious escalation in the north between Israel and Lebanon, something that none of us in this region need after 297 days of the war so far, we're entering soon we will be marking 10 months of this war.

There is a chance that an Israeli retaliation against Lebanon, against Hezbollah will lead to escalation there and will certainly complicate the situation when we all know that if we do reach a ceasefire, a sustainable ceasefire with Gaza, the war in the north will end as well.

But Israel feels compelled to respond after this rocket hit the soccer field yesterday in the Golan Heights and killed 12 young people.

WHITFIELD: The head of Mossad, Israel's intelligence was in Rome earlier today for the Gaza ceasefire talks and is now back in Israel. We're hearing that talks are expected to resume in the coming days. Where do you think things stand? Has there been any progress?

BASKIN: We have very low expectations.

What we understand is that Netanyahu has put additional conditions and red lines on the table that Hamas is very likely to refuse to accept and we are deadlocked.

Today, I sent letters to the Egyptians and the Qataris, the mediators here suggesting that they need to be serious and put down their own plan for a ceasefire and a return of the hostages and I suggested to them that they not negotiate on it with Israel and with Hamas, simply saying that you either take it or leave it. And if you leave it, we are out of this game.

We've been going on now for 10 months with the Israelis and the Palestinians, the Hamas playing the mediators and it's time for the mediators to say no more. The United States backing a Qatari-Egyptian plan needs to be very firm with Israel and Hamas saying, this is it, this is the deal. This will end the war.

WHITFIELD: I mean, the last time you and I spoke, you were pretty critical of Prime Minister Netanyahu and his commitment to talks and bringing the hostages home.

Did this -- his visit to the US last week, in any anyway change or impact your point of view?

BASKIN: No, I don't think so. I think that he can strengthen the point of view, and I think it's the point of view of most analysts here, the most people who are close to the political circles in Israel. Netanyahu is battling this war in Gaza partly -- maybe a very big part to keep his own political survival.

[15:45:10]

And we see over and over again him putting his personal political interest ahead of those of the country. It is the interest of the country, the Army is telling him, the intelligence is telling him that we need to bring the hostages home and we can end this war.

There is nothing more to achieve in Gaza except a mysterious, very vague, total victory that Netanyahu spoke about in Congress and speaks about here in Israel.

There is no total victory against Hamas. The only way to beat Hamas, and we've been saying this from the beginning is through a political deal that gives the Palestinian people hope of a future of peace and security and dignity and enables Israel to have security.

This is the only way forward. We need to push that political solution forward. And the United States needs to help do that. But I don't think that Mr. Netanyahu is taking President Biden very seriously anymore.

WHITFIELD: Gershon Baskin, great to have you. Thank you so much.

All right, the US is taking an active role in the ceasefire negotiations, one of several fronts, the US is involved in on the world stage. The ongoing war in Ukraine also remains a key focus of the Biden administration.

I sat down with US Ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield to talk to her about why she believes diplomacy is so vital in the world today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: THE UN International Criminal Court has denounced Netanyahu as a war criminal. It has done the same for Russia's Putin after invading aiding Ukraine. Yet on both fronts, it remains status quo in terms of their power, their leverage, the conflicts. Is there a feeling of powerlessness with the UN and the International Criminal Court?

LINDA THOMAS-GREENFIELD, US AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS: I don't feel a sense of powerlessness. We are getting things done in the United Nations. And I would really take issue with comparing what is happening in Israel-Gaza with what is happening in Ukraine.

Russia attacked its neighbor. Russia, a permanent member of the Security Council has broken every tenant of the UN Charter as a permanent member of the Security Council. It was an unprovoked attack that Russia made on Ukraine.

And so, there is really no comparison between the two. But in the meantime, we continue to isolate Russia in the Security Council, in the UN system broadly because of their actions in Ukraine and we will continue to isolate them.

We will continue to support Ukraine and we will continue to highlight what is happening in Ukraine. So that the Russians are not allowed to sweep it under the carpet.

WHITFIELD: Should Ukraine be worried that they may be on the backburner right now? The conflict between Israel and Hamas is certainly in the forefront. Presidential elections here in the US in the forefront.

What are your counterparts in Ukraine saying to you about their concerns or worries?

THOMAS-GREENFIELD: They know that we are committed to them and we continue to engage with them on a regular basis.

My UN counterpart in New York, I meet with him, I speak to him weekly, if not more often than that, and we strategize on how we can make sure that Ukraine stays on the front burner and while there are a lot of other things on the front burner, there is more than one front burner. Ukraine is still on the front burner.

WHITFIELD: Is it being expressed there is a heightened concern based on the outcome of the election?

THOMAS-GREENFIELD: I think everybody around the world, they're watching our elections and watching and waiting to see what that will mean for them and I think that would be the case no matter what.

WHITFIELD: US Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas- Greenfield.

In the next hour, more of my conversation with her, her thoughts on the unfinished business in the last six months of the Biden administration.

We will be right back.

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[15:54:09]

WHITFIELD: Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to become the first woman of color to become the Democratic Party's presidential nominee.

CNN's Abby Phillip sat down with Kamala Harris and those closest to her for an in-depth profile of her life and career from her immigrant parents routes to her marriage to Doug Emhoff, to her rise from prosecutor to politician.

Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT AND ANCHOR OF "NEWSNIGHT WITH ABBY PHILLIP" (voice over): After the financial crash in 2008, states sued these banks for foreclosure abuses.

California was among the hardest just hit with banks filing foreclosures on over one million homes. That's when Harris pulled up her chair to the table.

BRIAN NELSON, FORMER CALIFORNIA SPECIAL ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL: We are in that negotiation. She's talking to the banks. We're flying around the country partnering with other AGs.

[15:55:06]

SEN. CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO (D-NV): There is leverage, right, in that force of all the states coming together to take on some of the banks and Wall Street.

HARRIS: I determined that what the banks were offering California was crumbs on the table. So I pulled California out of the negotiation.

PHILLIP (voice over): Standing in the trenches with Harris, Delaware's Attorney General Beau Biden.

HARRIS: His state hadn't been as hard hit as many around the foreclosures, but Beau, on a matter of principle said, it's not right and I'm going to stand with you guys. It was incredible how much heat we took and Beau stood there, Beau stood there

PHILLIP (voice over): The standoff paid off.

HARRIS: As a result of 13 months of intense discussions sometimes battle, we have delivered to California $18 billion in relief for California's homeowners.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And be sure to tune in tonight at 8:00 PM Eastern and Pacific to watch this extraordinary hour on Kamala Harris, followed by another new episode of "The Whole Story" with Anderson Cooper looking at Joe Biden's presidency and his decision to step aside. That airs at 9:00 PM only on CNN.

We'll be right back.

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