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CNN International: Israel Strikes "Deep Inside" Lebanon After Rocket Attack; Fears Escalate Of Wider Conflict After Golan Heights Attack; Officials Say Venezuela's Maduro Reelected With 51 Percent of Vote. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired July 29, 2024 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:10]

AMARA WALKER, HOST, "CNN NEWSROOM": Hi, everyone, and welcome to our viewers all around the world. I'm Amara Walker. This is CNN Newsroom.

Just ahead, tensions are high between Israel and Hezbollah following a deadly rocket strike in the Golan Heights. World leaders warn both sides against sparking a wider conflict. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is set for a third term in office following a highly contentious election. We will have all the details from Caracas. And Joe Biden expected to unveil plans to reform the U.S. Supreme Court in the face of what's certain to be a strong opposition. We will be live in Washington.

Israel is vowing that Hezbollah will pay the price after a deadly rocket attack put the region further on edge. Israel is blaming the Lebanese militant group for a rocket attack Saturday that killed 12 children in the Israeli occupied-Golan Heights. Hezbollah denies that it was behind the strike. Israel's military conducted airstrikes against Hezbollah targets inside, deep inside Lebanese territory and along the border overnight on Sunday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held the security cabinet meeting on Sunday to discuss the situation.

CNN reporters are standing by. Our Ben Wedeman is in Beirut, Lebanon. But, we're going to begin with Jeremy Diamond in Haifa, Israel. Hi there, Jeremy. Tell us more about what we're learning about this strike that hit a soccer pitch where kids were training, and further steps that Israel may be planning to take.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I just returned from Majdal Shams, a Syrian Druze community not far from the Israel-Lebanon border that has been absolutely devastated by this rocket attack over the weekend, which Israel says Hezbollah is responsible for. 12 children are dead as a result of this strike. Many of them were simply playing soccer on a soccer field in the center of that town. And one of the most devastating aspects of this is just how close they were to a bomb shelter. Just a few yards away from that bomb shelter is where this rocket hit. But, there simply wasn't enough time for all of these children to get into that bomb shelter, as the sirens went off just seconds before that rocket made its devastating impact.

Yesterday, we spent time with the families of some of those children who were killed, one father, who is still just trying to piece together how this could have happened, and his anger, of course, at Hezbollah, that Lebanese militant group for this strike. Now, the question now is, how the Israeli government, the Israeli military will respond to this strike? We know that last night, the Israeli Prime Minister held a security consultation with his top generals and foreign policy, national security advisors, and then he met with his political and security cabinet, which authorized him as well as the Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant to decide effectively when, where and how Israel will strike back.

And so, it is not clear yet how soon the Israeli response to this strike will come. But, it is clear that it will come. The question now in this entire region is to what extent that Israeli response could potentially escalate things even further. There have been fears for a long time now that a strike like the one we saw over the weekend, whether in northern Israel, the Golan Heights, or in Lebanon, could -- one in which there would be a number of civilians dead, including children, like in this instance, could potentially set off that broader regional war, could turn this long simmering conflict between Israel and Hezbollah into an all-out war. And so now, everyone is waiting on pins and needles to see what the Israeli response will be, and whether or not it will trigger that worst case scenario that many had been fearing.

WALKER: Could this be the straw that breaks the camel's back? That is the question. Jeremy Diamond, thank you.

Let's head now to Ben in Lebanon. I mean, that has been the concern all along that some kind of miscalculation could lead to a fuller scale conflict. What are you hearing in terms of those concerns right now and Hezbollah and Lebanon's response thus far?

[08:05:00]

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the concerns are intense that this time they sort of daily back and forth between Lebanon or Hezbollah and Israel could actually escalate into something much bigger. Now, yesterday, we heard from a senior media adviser to Hezbollah that the group is in a state of mobilization that some of their military posts have been evacuated in anticipation of some sort of larger than usual Israeli strike.

Now, just a little while ago, I got off the phone with Lebanon's caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib, who told me that through diplomatic context they had received assurances that the Israeli response would be, in his words, limited, and he said that they were taking --assuming that what that means is that Beirut will not be struck, the airport will not be struck, and particularly the southern suburbs of Beirut, where many of the leaders of Hezbollah are believed to be based. The leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, has made it clear that if those areas are targeted, Hezbollah would respond to in kind toward Israel. So, there is a sense growing but still slight that perhaps a full-on regional war can be avoided.

But, despite that, certainly, we are seeing that, for instance, Lufthansa, the German airline, has suspended all flights to Lebanon until the fifth of August. Air France has suspended all flights today and tomorrow to Beirut. Germany and Italy have told their nationals to leave Lebanon as quickly as possible. And the Assistant U.S. Secretary of State for Consular Affairs, who is in Lebanon at the moment, put out a video statement on X or Twitter, saying that people -- Americans in Lebanon should leave before the crisis begins. Now that there is communications and some airlines continued to function, she warned those American nationals who want to stay in Lebanon despite the situation that they should be prepared to shelter in place, she said, for a very long time. Amara.

WALKER: All right. Ben Wedeman in Beirut, Lebanon, for us, thank you so much, Ben.

Now, there has been a variety of reactions to the announcement by Venezuelan officials that President Nicolas Maduro has won reelection again. Russia and China sent their congratulations to the strongman leader after Sunday's ballot, while the U.S. expressed serious concerns that the results were fair, and European nations also voiced skepticism. According to Venezuela's government-controlled Electoral Council, Mr. Maduro one more than 51 percent of the vote. The opposition is rejecting that number. It says Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia won with 70 percent of the vote.

Stefano Pozzebon is joining me now live in Caracas with more. Hi, there, Stefano. There was a lot of concern that these would not be free and fair elections. Tell us more about the reaction there by the voters, the people, and of course, the reaction around the world.

STEFANO POZZEBON, JOURNALIST: Yes, Amara. Well, I think in terms of reaction inside Venezuela, it is 08:00 a.m. on a Monday. It's the peak of the rush hour. The streets of Caracas are almost deserted this morning. Coming to the office, I didn't see a single person walking by or getting a coffee, as you would normally do at the beginning of the week, as people are trying to get to their workplaces. I think that there is a big waking up to an enormous question, what has just happened for millions of Venezuelans who had invested so much of their hopes towards these election, which was never going to be completely free and completely fair, but many hoped it was going to be competitive.

Many believe that the opposition would have had a real chance at the presidency. And instead, we've seen that the Electoral Council, which, as you said that, is closely aligned with the Maduro government, proclaimed in the middle of the night Maduro as the winner, to the astonishment of the world there. The United States have not actually been coming out with the harshest words. Many countries in Latin America, from Chile, to Uruguay, Peru and Costa Rica are already calling these elections a blatant fraud and they said that they are not recognizing these results.

The U.S. has instead only short of that measure, saying that they urge caution and they would like a full audit of the results proclaimed yesterday by the Electoral Council.

[08:10:00] I think, Amara, that now the ball is back onto the opposition's field. They need to decide whether they will take to the streets and protest to sort of like enforce those results, or they will -- they could publish the data and the numbers that they handle. We know that the opposition deployed an operation of electoral witnesses in most of the more than 30,000 voting centers here in Venezuela over the last 24 hours to try monitor the vote and report as many irregularities as they could. And of course, a lot of pressure and a lot of scrutiny on how the international community will react.

Two countries that have not taken up positions just yet are Brazil and Colombia. These are the two biggest diplomatic power when it comes to the Latin American left. And we will have to see what happens in Brasilia and what happens in Bogota to understand what will happen in the next few days in Caracas. Amara.

WALKER: Yes. We will see. Stefano Pozzebon, thank you so much.

Let's talk more about this election with Tamara Taraciuk Broner. She is the Rule of Law Program Director at Inter-American Dialogue. Tamara, good to have you on the program. Let's talk about the voting irregularities, of course, the accusations of fraud in this election. Do you expect that any of the voting data would be released to the public?

TAMARA TARACIUK BRONER, RULE OF LAW PROGRAM DIRECTOR, INTER-AMERICAN DIALOGUE: well, there is no evidence of the results that the government announced, which makes them very, very difficult to believe. They contradict exit polls. They contradict what we saw on the street. And they contradict what the evidence shows in the few cases that the opposition did have access to the electoral ballot results. And they were there in the large majority of voting centers. So, it's not that. There was no witnesses there to see what was actually happening. So, the question now is, what will the international community to do with this?

As Stefano was saying, there is a lot of doubt about these results. And I want to highlight that this election, despite the fact that they were not clean north there, are an opportunity to move forward in a transition to democracy in Venezuela because the people massively mobilized to vote, and the vast majority voted for change.

WALKER: This is an opportunity. Well, is there any optimism that Nicolas Maduro would be open to this and negotiations?

BRONER: He will not lose power voluntarily. Fraud was what they were supposed to be doing, because that's the only thing they could do to cling on to power. But, the question now in Venezuela is, it has to be understood by looking at the context. Power is not monolithic in Venezuela. You don't have everyone aligned behind Maduro, and that opens the door to an opportunity.

There are many people in Venezuela within the electoral power, within the judiciary, within the armed forces, who are not blacklisted and will not end up in jail if there is a transition to democracy. And these are the people who today have to make a decision. Will they be on the side of the people and the Venezuelan will that was expressed yesterday in the polls, or will they cling on to power and validate, if that is at all possible, the electoral results that were provided yesterday evening, yesterday night, after claiming an absurd terrorist attack on the institutions because they had to hide the real results that everyone knows took place yesterday?

WALKER: Regarding Brazil and Colombia, who -- these countries obviously have a lot of influence on Nicolas Maduro, what kind of response do you anticipate and what do you hope these countries will do?

BRONER: Well, I think they're silenced till now -- until now is actually a good sign, because I hope it means that they're having private conversations with the government of Nicolas Maduro to explain that they will have no possibility to govern, to have access to markets, to have access to the legitimacy that they wanted to get out of these elections if there is no belief in the electoral results. They have a very important role to play, both Brazil and Colombia, because of the closeness to the Maduro government, but it's a critical role, and they have to be very clear in terms of what they expect, because otherwise they're just going to be giving Maduro a blank check to continue clinging on to power arbitrarily.

[08:15:00]

I want to highlight the role that in the statements of Chile, which is another left-leaning government, that has been very clear questioning the results, and there has been consensus in several countries in the region, in Europe, the United States, calling for credible election results, and that's what Brazil and Colombia should do, and they should do it clearly to be able to press the Maduro government to accept the will of the people. And again, I want to highlight that here, it's not about convincing Maduro. Maduro is going to have a very hard time facing a quiet life after being in office because he is implicated in crimes against humanity.

He is implicated in crimes related to corruption, drug trafficking, money laundering, and some (inaudible) close to him are implicated in these crimes too. And the threat of criminal prosecution and jail for all of these crimes is real. But, not everyone is in that category. And everyone else should think twice before clinging on to power because they do and can have a better future in a democratic Venezuela.

WALKER: All right. A lot of uncertain days ahead. We shall see how it all plays out. Tamara Taraciuk Broner, thank you so much for your time.

And still to come, new revelations about the crucial minutes before a gunman fired at former President Donald Trump. The local SWAT team is speaking out. Plus, the park fire in California is already the seventh largest in the state's history. The man accused of starting it is expected in court Monday. We'll have more on that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WALKER: The local SWAT team that made up part of the security detail

at Donald Trump's Pennsylvania rally is speaking out. Text messages obtained by Republican Senator Chuck Grassley show that officers had noted the presence of the gunman 90 minutes before he opened fire, and they were discussing him by phone. One officer even took a picture of Thomas Matthew Crooks before losing track of him. Their comments came in a story first reported by The New York Times. Members of the team told ABC News, they were supposed to have a face-to-face briefing with the Secret Service but that never happened.

Let's bring in Zachary Cohen, who has been following the story from Washington. That seems like a huge security fail. What are we hearing about these allegations, and what does the Secret Service say about that -- about them?

ZACHARY COHEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yeah, Amara. The Secret Service has still refused to really address specific questions about the timeline or the allegations surrounding the security failures, but they have said that they are committed to resolving whatever issue -- issues that there are identified and that led up to the assassination attempt of Donald Trump. The acting Director of the Secret Service will have to testify on Capitol Hill this week. So, he will obviously be pressed for answers when he appears before two different Senate Committees.

But look, the local SWAT team in this interview really describing both a failure of planning and of communication, and pointing the finger at the U.S. Secret Service, who they said they had no communication with that entire day.

[08:20:00]

The Secret Service is supposed to run point on protecting the President and run point on making decisions, key decisions, strategic decisions, about the placement of officers on the ground. But, take a listen to what the local SWAT team told ABC News about the communication breakdown that occurred that day.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PATRICK YOUNG, CHIEF DETECTIVE, BEAVER COUNTY EMS: Multiple agencies working together is always taxing no matter what the problem. I know that we could not communicate with Secret Service or Pennsylvania State Police, or really in effort, the patrol directly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COHEN: So, coupled with the text messages that were reported on first by The New York Times that showed that officers on the ground, local officers did identify the would-be assassin as suspicious nearly 90 minutes before Donald Trump took the stage. That's earlier than previous timelines had detailed. But, they say that in these text messages, it's unclear when that warning was shared with the U.S. Secret Service. Clearly, the local officers on the ground who saw Thomas Crooks did not communicate that warning directly to Secret Service agents. So, this is going to be a key question and a key issue that will be -- will need to be resolved in the future, for sure.

WALKER: Absolutely. Zachary Cohen, good to have you. Thank you so much, live for us there in Washington.

A man in Northern California accused of starting the massive Park Fire is expected to make his first court appearance on Monday. Ronnie Dean Stout will likely face an arson charge, the Butte County District Attorney said. The fire has already destroyed 100 structures and burned more than 360,000 acres, which is an area bigger than the city of Phoenix. Firefighters say it is 12 percent contained, and it is now the seventh largest wildfire ever recorded in California.

CNN's Camila Bernal is in Butte County, California, with the latest. What can you tell us, Camilla?

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey Amara. Just so much destruction, a lot of the thousands and thousands of acres that have been burned look a lot like what you see here behind me. And what firefighters are telling me is that the center of the fire is still very active. It's still in very steep terrain, difficult areas to get to.

But, there are two things that really helped over the weekend. One, the weather, so, lower temperatures, some cloud cover. That really helped these firefighters. And then, the other thing is the resources. We now have about 4,700 people on the ground battling these flames. So, they've been able to come and do assessments. You mentioned 100 structures already destroyed. There is people that are going essentially door-to-door, not really door-to-door because, of course, of the destruction, but really going one by one to make sure and to see what the destruction is. And then the other thing that firefighters told me is that they were able to have this direct attack on the flames, and that's what helped get that containment from zero percent to 12 percent.

It's really been the first time that we hear optimism from firefighters. And they also told me that the priority is getting people back into their homes. They're very sensitive and are very aware of what the people here in Butte County have lived through. In 2018, they went through the deadliest fire in California history. And so, they know that this is something that's difficult and traumatic for a lot of the people in this county. And so, they're doing everything they can to get them back into their homes, and of course, to continue to bring that containment number up.

Again, there is optimism, firefighters really believing that maybe they will continue to make that progress over the next couple of days, but also very aware that there is still a lot of work to be done here, Amara.

WALKER: Clearly, considering that it's only 12 percent contained. A lot more --

BERNAL: Yeah.

WALKER: -- to be done. Camila Bernal, thank you, near Chico, California, for us. BERNAL: Thank you.

WALKER: Well, there are some good news for firefighters, as weather conditions could start to bring a little relief, as we heard.

Our Derek Van Dam is at the CNN Weather Center. Fingers crossed. What are we looking at?

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yeah, Amara. It's the catalyst that we're looking for is right here, this little cold front, that is going to bring more cloud cover and have a change in the temperatures and also give some relief and some light rainfall to the ongoing wildfires across the western parts of the U.S. So, you can see that in the temperature forecast. Look at Spokane, only 78 degrees today. They've been significantly warmer than that. Even though these temperatures seem warm, you can see that drop as the cold front enters the Boise, Idaho, region. So, all in all, that is good news.

We will take what we can get, but there are still flare concerns ahead of this front, this catalyst I talked about. This is a red flag warning. You could see that for portions of Wyoming and to Utah and parts of Idaho, even South Central California, 103 active wildfires, still large active wildfires burning over the western U.S., including the Park Fire in Northern California, lots of smoke associated with these billowing fires and that is going to, of course, degrade the quality of the air. That's why we have air quality alerts for many locations, especially over eastern Oregon and parts of Idaho, where the smoke is the thickest along the horizon right now.

[08:25:00]

Now, what we've been monitoring across the pond, this is into Europe, this is of course France, into Paris is the Olympics, and we saw the deluge of rain that impacted the opening ceremonies this weekend. But now, since that has moved on, we are worried about the heat, right now, 30 -- 28 degrees at a warm to about 32. So, temperatures here in the 80s. But, it gets warmer from here.

Notice all the reds and oranges across southwest and central portions of France. That is a building heatwave that Meteo-France, the agency within France that forecasts the weather for the Olympic Games, says will be the first heatwave of the season. It is going to overspread much of Paris from Tuesday into Wednesday. Both of those days should be the hottest of this stretch. Look at that, 36 degrees. That is a scorcher, and of course it's very difficult for the athletes and the spectators out there.

There will be a chance of rain later in the afternoon and evening with that amount of heat. Something that we'll monitor very closely. The good news is, Amara, is that once the heatwave breaks we get into more reasonable and more seasonable temperatures for Paris. Back to you.

WALKER: All righty. Thanks for letting us know. Derek Van Dam, good to have you at the CNN Weather Center.

DAM: All right. WALKER: Thanks so much.

Still to come, Joe Biden versus the Supreme Court. The President is all set to propose reforms that include an end to lifetime appointments. Plus, weird and evil, the two leading presidential contenders turn up their attacks, as polls show the race getting even closer.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WALKER: Later today, President Joe Biden plans to introduce a series of major reforms that will completely remake the U.S. Supreme Court. Mr. Biden will propose term limits and a binding ethics code for conduct for justices who currently serve for life. He is also proposing that presidents be stripped of the broad immunity that the court gave them in a ruling just weeks ago, something that would require a constitutional amendment. But, it is worth noting that Mr. Biden's ideas are highly unlikely to pass Congress.

Our Priscilla Alvarez is tracking the story for us now from the White House. Hi there, Priscilla. So, tell us more about why President Biden is doing this now, just 99 days before the election, knowing that the odds are stacked against him.

[08:30:00]

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the President alluded to wanting to do these reforms in his address to the nation last week, and he was actually set to announce them before he dropped out of the race, but that trip was postponed after the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump. But, as you note, Amara, this does face a steep, uphill battle, and it has really little chances of going anywhere. But still, the President has cast this as a way of reforming the Supreme Court and essentially restoring trust and accountability in it.

Now, his proposals include, for example, a constitutional amendment stripping the President of immunity of crimes committed while in office, also term limits for justices who serve a lifetime, and then to bringing a code of contact. Now, bringing all of this together would amount to seismic changes for the way the Supreme Court operates, and again, the way it's been described by the White House is an attempt to restore that trust and accountability not only in the Supreme Court, but also in the presidency.

Now, we also moments ago got a statement from the Vice President. She says that this would have -- it would restore competence in the court, strengthen our democracy, and ensure no one is above the law. The Vice President also says in her statement, there is, quote, "a clear crisis of competence facing the Supreme Court." Now, this has been a cornerstone of the campaign, of the Biden campaign and now the Harris campaign moving forward, particularly amid all of those controversial rulings from the court. But, even as they lay this out, the reality here is that it would include or require a congressional approval as well as that constitutional amendment I mentioned, a ratification of 38 states. That is a complicated process, a difficult one, and especially with a divided Congress unlikely that it would pass muster.

But, the President is set to announce this in Austin, Texas, later this afternoon, in an event commemorating the Civil Rights Act. So, the President making clear here his take on the Supreme Court on what the changes should be to reform the court, even if it's an uphill battle to actually get it approved.

WALKR: All right. Priscilla Alvarez at the White House, great to see you. Thanks so much, Priscilla.

Well, on the campaign trail this weekend, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are testing out attack lines to see what sticks. The new strategy for Harris and her allies cast the former president and his VP pick as "weird".

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIM WALZ, MINNESOTA GOVERNOR: We're not afraid of weird people. We are a little bit creeped out, but we're not afraid.

DOUG EMHOFF, KAMALA HARRIS' HUSBAND: It's not about her or her opponent, really, and is no matter what kind of weird stuff they keep saying.

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE U.S., (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Donald Trump has been resorting to some wild lies about my record, and some of what he and his running mate are saying, it's just plain weird.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: Well, Trump's messaging is darker. He is obviously using harsher words to describe Kamala Harris. He is trying to make the case that Harris is dangerous and worse than President Biden. He says he won't be softening that tone anytime soon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: She is a radical left lunatic. She has no clue. She is evil. I want to be nice. They all say, I think he has changed. I think he has changed since two weeks ago. Something affected him. No, I haven't changed. Maybe I've gotten worse.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: All right. A lot to discuss now with one of our political analysts. Larry Sabato is the Director at the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. Larry, it's good to see you. Let's talk about the dynamics of the race right now as things stand. Obviously, we're seeing a much closer race, and Kamala Harris clearly has the momentum now, as Trump is clearly struggling trying to find a way to define Harris and streamline his attacks against her. In terms of this political honeymoon that we are seeing Harris on right now, how long could it last, or is it -- is there optimism that it could last through Election Day, since there is only 99 days left? LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR POLITICS, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: Well, a lot can happen in 99 days. You can look at the last week of so many big events. So, I don't think it can last that long. But, if Kamala Harris is lucky, this is going to last past the Democratic Convention. Now, how could that be, since we're a couple of weeks away from the convention even beginning? Well, she has that key decision to make about her vice presidential nominee.

[08:35:00]

If she picks wisely, and that individual goes over in terms of public approval, it will make a great contrast with J.D. Vance, Trump's choice for him Vice President, who, I think it's fair to say, has not gone over particularly well, and it turns out he has said a lot of controversial things. They're using the word "weird". I prefer the word "odd". But, this could last past the Democratic Convention. If it does, it puts her in a good position, right at the start of the real campaign, which begins around about Labor Day. And the voting starts in many states in late September. So, this is going to be scoped pretty tightly between now and the actual final Election Day, November 5.

WALKER: Are there any particular potential VP candidates that could give her quite a boost post Democratic National Convention? Are there any names that stick out to you?

SABATO: Yes. There are several. I would mention Senator Mark Kelly from Arizona in particular, not just because of Arizona's 11 electoral votes, and right now it's leaning Republican rather than Democratic, Biden carried it nearly the last time, but also because of his past exploits, a military person, an astronaut. He is married to the former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, whose career was truncated because of an assassination attempt. There are a lot of pieces to him that fit nicely with Kamala Harris. But, there are others too. It's more a matter of picking someone who comes across as reasonable and not let's say "weird".

WALKER: Odd is the word you like, right? And back to J.D. Vance, and I'm glad you mentioned to him, because he has been on the defensive lately, right, I mean, after those comments insulting women without children were dug up. And as we know, he has flip-flopped quite heavily on Donald Trump from being a heavy critic of Donald Trump to now really what many critics see as being a sycophant. Is he going to be more of a liability for Trump as opposed to an asset, because there has been so much made about his age and of course, his roots in Appalachia?

SABATO: The greatest miscalculation of this campaign so far has been made by Donald Trump and his campaign in picking J.D. Vance. Now, why is that the case, because they simply assumed that Joe Biden would be able to tough it out and would stay as the nominee, and then all they had to do was to keep enthusiasm high among the Trump base and the Republican base, and they had it, and probably that theory was correct. Well, we all know what's occurred since the Republican Convention. They have a completely new opponent who is coming across very well, has restored Democratic Party base enthusiasm, raised $200 million in a week, 170,000 new volunteers. Two thirds of the contributors are our new, have never given before. And this is a completely different campaign. But, Trump and his team are still running the old one.

WALKER: Yeah. Kamala Harris has really altered the dynamics of the race and also just created so much excitement, at least within the Democratic Party.

Larry Sabato, it's always great to have you. Thanks so much.

SABATO: Thanks, my friend. Thank you.

WALKER: Well, this just in to CNN. Police in northwest England have arrested a man they say was carrying a knife. They report a number of casualties in what they're calling a major incident in Southport, but they add there is no wider threat to the public. We will, of course, stay on top of the story and get you more information as soon as we get it in.

We'll have more news after the break. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WALKER: Organizers of the Paris Olympics have apologized for what some people are calling a parody of "The Last Supper." The performance during the opening ceremony featured drag artists and dancers who organizers say we're depicting the Greek god at a festival. It has angered the Catholic Church and some Christian groups who say the same mocked Christianity because of similarities to paintings of Jesus at the Last Supper. Organizers denied there were any deliberate biblical references but say that they are sorry if anyone took offense.

All right. Let's take a look now at the medal count after the first weekend of the games. China leads with the most gold. Japan is a close second. Australia and South Korea each have four gold medals. And the U.S. has three goals, but the most medals overall with 12. 19 more medals will be handed out in the coming hours, including the women's 400 meter individual medley in swimming, and British diver Tom Daley will defend his title in this synchronized 10 meter platform.

CNN's Amanda Davies joins us now from Paris with more. Hello, Amanda. So, I hear that tennis just got underway. Who is playing?

AMANDA DAVIES, CNN WORLD SPORT: Oh, Amara, it's not only got underway. It's going incredibly quickly. I mean, if ever there was a match that deserves and has a lot of build-up, it is one between Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, two of the greatest players not only of a generation, but in tennis history, worthy of any Grand Slam final on the biggest stage. And instead of missing in the final here are the Olympic Games, they have been drawn against each other in the second round here at Roland Garros. And we're at that point in Rafael Nadal's career where every time we see him play singles, it could be his last match. Such has been the speculation about his future, his comments about his fitness. He told me just a couple of months ago, every day he wakes up, he just doesn't know what his body is going to do.

But, what makes it so special taking place here in France, in Paris, at Roland Garros, it is the court, Philippe-Chatrier, where he has won 14 Grand Slam titles. So, when he won through yesterday, I was there at that match, it was a sea of red and yellow Spanish flags. There was a lot of excitement that had made it through to face Novak Djokovic. They've played each other 60 times. This is number 60. Novak Djokovic has the advantage. He has won 30. Nadal has won 29 of those meetings. But, I have to say, it looks like Djokovic is going to claim another one of those victories. He has taken the first set six games to one. But, this is Rafael Nadal. He is not known as the king of clay for nothing, and he will have the weight of the home support around him.

WALKER: Oh, how I wish I were there in person watching that incredible match.

So, France got a big win in the pool on Sunday, Amanda, but the person who made the biggest splash was of course gymnast Simone Biles.

DAVIES: Yeah, I mean, I'm not sure which was the better atmosphere actually here yesterday, two venues where the Olympics really took off.

We had Leon Marchand, who was the home favorite. He literally had the weight of the country's expectations on his shoulders, 22 years of age. He'd really talked a good game. He has always said he wants to emulate and wants to emulate the great Michael Phelps and his achievements. France had never won a swimming gold at an Olympic Games since 2012. He has been at ASU. He has been competing in the NCAA, won a number of titles, but this was his moment, and boy, did he smash it. He strutted out wearing his gold goggles and now has a gold medal around his neck. He was already the world record holder in the 400 IM. But, he added the Olympic record to his name as well and worryingly perhaps for his rivals. He has got three other events still to come.

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He is very much the favorite for those.

But, from the pool to the gymnastics arena, and if it was Marchand shining bright in the pool, the superstars were on display at the gymnastics, all there to support Simone Biles. We had Ariana Grande. We had Tom Cruise, Anna Wintour. And it was the much hyped supported return of Biles after that disappointment, the devastation, really, of what happened in Tokyo, the concerns that we'd never see her compete at the top level again. She was back. She came back with a bang but did give us an element of doubt. She has got a very heavily strapped ankle and calf suffering with a few problems. But, being Simone Biles, she has still managed to guide her team to top of the qualification standings for the team competition. She, is top of the all-around as well. She says she is not worried. But, the finals for that will take place on Tuesday.

WALKER: Yeah. She is such a superstar, seeing her this weekend on her knees and hopping around on one foot and yet did just a stellar job qualifying.

Amanda Davies in Paris, great to see you. Thanks.

Well, just last year, Australian surfer Ethan Ewing suffered a broken back when he was dumped by a big wave in Tahiti. Well, now, he has returned to the same place to face the challenge and the competition for Olympic gold. Over the weekend, he advanced into round three of the competition.

CNN's Coy Wire has the story.

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COY WIRE, CNN WORLD SPORT (voice-over): We go to Tahiti, an island in the heart of the South Pacific Ocean that will be home to surfing at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games. And at the end of the road in a small fishing town called Teahupo, there is a wave known as perhaps the most dangerous wave of them all. Last summer, Australian surfer Ethan Ewing suffered the biggest injury of his professional career, facing the wave at World Surf League's Tahiti Pro.

ETHAN EWING, AUSTRALIAN OLYMPIC SURFER: This is just like a warm-up session. The contest hasn't started yet. So, I think we're like two or three days out. Just early morning, I was out there and I was just about to come in catching my last wave and I was like too deep on the wave and got sucked over and hit my back on the reef. And yeah, it wasn't my favorite day. But, yeah, just like good people around me and just lucky to be able to come back here and compete again.

WIRE (voice-over): Ewing broke his back that day, but that didn't keep him down. He returned to surfing just a month later to claim second place for the season on the Championship Tour.

EWING: I think it was just the people around me. I'd really good support crew and had a little bit of time to rest, and yeah, just great people around me just to keep me positive. And I think, yeah, once the jersey was on, I was back in competition. The adrenaline and the excitement kind of, I don't know, it helped me get through it all.

WIRE (voice-over): In May this year, Ewing returned to Teahupo to face the wave that injured him.

EWING: It's pretty daunting, and yeah, a lot of things to kind of overcome.

WIRE: Tell me about your recovery process. What was that like? How tough was it to get back to top form?

EWING: I mean, I had a bit of time to rest and I pretty much couldn't do anything. I was just like laying around just icing and with anti- inflammatories, and then, yeah, I just had like a really short amount of time to kind of get my legs back strong again. And yeah, it was pretty short time to get back on the board. But, yeah, it was pretty cool to like finish the year out in the finals and not be online on the couch recovering. WIRE (voice-over): When it comes to surfing, Ewing followed in his parents' footsteps. His mom Helen was a pioneering surfer in the 1980s but tragically passed away from breast cancer when he was just six- years-old.

EWING: Oh, Just to her proud, her and my dad got me into surfing. So, I kind of owe it to them, just doing my best, and yeah, just want to do her proud and my dad proud because, yeah, they kind of put me on this journey. So, I kind of owe it to them.

WIRE (voice-over): The Tahitian wave that nearly took his life will be something Ewing now has to conquer if he wants to win Olympic gold.

EWING: Yeah. It's definitely a challenge. I mean, despite the injuries, it's already like a really intimidating life. So, there is challenges there, but just try and look at the positives. I mean, it's one of the best waves in the world. And yeah, you can play for gold is pretty, pretty incredible and I'll do my best to get there.

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WALKER: How could you not root for him? Amazing story. Thanks to Coy Wire for that.

Still to come, while Paris may be awash with enthusiastic sports fans, other European cities say they're overwhelmed by floods of tourists and they are preparing to crack down.

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WALKER: Europe is known for some of the world's most beautiful and beloved travel destinations, but in some cities, the locals have had enough and they're tired of rolling out the welcome mat for tons of tourists. Some say overtourism is pricing many locals out of the places they call home.

CNN's Michael Holmes has more.

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MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sunset on Greece's Santorini Island, the view of the sky sinking into the ocean, stunning, but it's the reverse angle of the famed cliffside terraces that's not so Instagram friendly, and that's drawing a lot of attention. During tourist season, crowds clogged the winding paths to watch the Sun go down, and some locals worry it's too much for the island.

KOSTAS SAKAVARAS, SANTORINI TOURIST GUIDE: The arrival of big numbers of people put a serious strain on the local infrastructure. Our roads were never designed for this many thousands of people. Our narrow cobblestone streets were not designed for this either.

HOLMES (voice-over): Nearly 3.5 million tourists visited Santorini last year, an overwhelming number compared to the island's 20,000 permanent residents. And to combat the wear and tear from such a high amount of foot traffic, Greece's Prime Minister says he is considering limiting the amount of cruise ship visitors to the country's most popular islands. And Santorini's mayor is proposing capping arrivals, suggest 8,000 a day, down from 17,000.

Calls to rein in the number of tourists and the inflated costs that often come with them are growing in many European vacation hotspots, as locals say they're being priced out of living in their own cities. In Barcelona, a group of protesters recently sprayed tourists with water pistols, which was quickly denounced by Spain's Tourism Minister, who says Spain welcomes its guests, but admits more regulations are needed.

JORDI HEREU, SPANISH TOURISM MINISTER (Interpreted): We all have the great challenge of governing tourism. Tourism is a great phenomenon that has a thousand positive consequences, but it must be governed.

HOLMES (voice-over): Barcelona's mayor says he will bar short-term apartment rentals to tourists by 2028 in an attempt to reduce rents, which he says have increased by nearly 70 percent over the past decade.

But, anger has been growing in many Spanish holiday destinations, especially in recent months in places like Majorca and the Canary Islands, where there have been mass protests against what locals say is an unsustainable tourists model that enriches only a few.

ALBERT ARTIAGA, MAJORCA RESIDENT (Interpreted): We can't go to the beaches that we always went to as children, and we find that we're retreating inland. Giving up the better places that the island offers to people from outside, it's not the fault of tourism. It's the fault of those who run it, the government, the hotel owners and the people in power.

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HOLMES (voice-over): Venice has grappled with overtourism for years, but says that it has had some success with a temporary entrance fee day trippers, which brought in more than $2.6 million to the city over 29 peak days between April and July. But, officials say they'll need to study the data further to see if it's a long-term solution to cutting down on overcrowding.

Michael Holmes, CNN.

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WALKER: Taylor Swift fans took tailgating or Taylor-gating, as it's become known, to the next level in Munich, Germany. Now, those on the hill outside, wow, the open roof stadium, were able to hear Swift's performance for free. It's a lot of people. Police estimate 40,000 people camped there on Saturday. That's an addition to the 75,000 fans inside the arena. Swift is on the European leg of her Eras Tour. After two nights in Munich, she is heading to the Polish capital of Warsaw for three concerts. That's a great way to get a free ticket to a concert, to sit outside and listen.

Thanks for joining me here on CNN Newsroom. I'm Amara Walker. Connect the World with Becky Anderson is next.

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