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Democrats Rally Around Kamala Harris; Trump Campaign Forced to Pivot to Take on Harris; Protests Erupt After Maduro Declared Election Winner; Two Children Dead, Nine Others Injured in Knife Attack; Netanyahu Vows Severe Response to Golan Heights Attack. Aired 4-4:30a ET
Aired July 30, 2024 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:00:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A woman president, man, how exciting!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How often in a hundred days do you get to change the trajectory of the world? And how often in the world do you make that bastard wake up afterwards and know that a Black woman kicked his ass and sent him on the road?
JON STEWART, HOST "THE DAILY SHOW": Are you being vetted right now? Would you know if you're being vetted right now? When they vet you, do you feel it?
You're being vetted! You know.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I slid to the judges and looked at these guys and they were jumping up and down. I mean, it was just the greatest moment of my life, I think.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: Live from London, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Max Foster and Christina Macfarlane.
MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, warm welcome to our viewers joining us from the U.S. and around the world. I'm Max Foster.
CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Christina Macfarlane. It's Tuesday, July 30th, 9 a.m. here in London, 4 a.m. in Atlanta, Georgia.
Where in the coming hours U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris will speak at a campaign event to drum up support as she seeks the official Democratic presidential nomination.
FOSTER: On Monday, tens of thousands of self-proclaimed white dudes for Harris joined a Zoom call to rally support for her, raising $4 million in the process.
MACFARLANE: Minnesota's governor made the case for a Harris presidency and so did actor Jeff Bridges, the dude himself, in a nod to his character from "The Big Lebowski."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TIM WALZ, (D) MINNESOTA GOVERNOR: How often in 100 days do you get to change the trajectory of the world? How often in 100 days do you get to do something that's going to impact generations to come? And how often in the world do you make that bastard wake up afterwards and know that a Black woman kicked his ass and sent him on the road?
JEFF BRIDGES, ACTOR: Kamala is just so certainly our girl, you know. I can see her being president. I'm so excited. A woman president, man. How exciting!
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: You can feel the energy, can't you? It's brilliant. Democrats are beginning to show they aren't afraid to take jabs at Trump.
Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro, believed to be on the short list for vice president, called out the former president at a rally on Monday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. JOSH SHAPIRO (D-PA): You have to laugh. You ever see this guy? When he's on stage, he kind of meanders over, you know, can't really walk well, and he goes over to the flag and he like hugs the flag. And I love the flag. But it's a weird thing he does, right?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: Well, the former president said he would most likely end up debating Vice President Harris at some point but remains undecided.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I want to do a debate, but I also can say this, everybody knows who I am. And now people know who she is. She's a radical left lunatic. She'll destroy our country. She wants open borders.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Then why not debate her?
TRUMP: We'll wait. But because they already know everything. The answer is yes, I'll probably end up debating. I think actually the debate should take place before the votes start being cast.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: But Trump's opinions on Harris aren't entirely shared by his own running mate, J.D. Vance, who noted key differences between her and the president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH) REPUBLICAN VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: All of us were hit with a little bit of a political sucker punch. The bad news is that Kamala Harris does not have the same baggage as Joe Biden, because whatever we might say, Kamala Harris is a lot younger. And Kamala Harris is obviously not struggling in the same ways that Joe Biden did.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: Well, the Trump campaign is ramping up attacks on Harris after being forced to pivot from plans to face President Joe Biden in November. CNN's Alayna Treene has details on those efforts.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: With roughly a week since it became clear that Kamala Harris will be the one to face off with the former president in November, the Trump campaign is still workshopping the best way to define her. And remember, they spent an entire campaign, including pouring millions of dollars into data and modelling and ads, designed to go after an unpopular 81-year-old incumbent. Now, with less than just 100 days until the election, they have to shift gears.
Now, I was at their rally in Minnesota Saturday night and the attacks felt a bit like Trump was throwing the kitchen sink at Harris. But the overarching message in the attacks from both Trump and Vance on the trail thus far have been to paint her as someone who was worse and far more radically liberal than Joe Biden.
[04:05:00]
Ripping into her time as the attorney general of California and arguing that she is just as responsible for the Biden administration's record as Joe Biden himself. Take a listen to some of those attacks.
TRUMP: She will be the worst president we've ever had. She will be worse than crooked Joe Biden.
VANCE: We've got to give some credit to our Democrat friends because they were right in 2020. The American people are never going to elect a wacky, out-of-touch San Francisco liberal like Kamala Harris.
TREENE: Now, you've also heard Trump himself argue that Harris has been somewhat of a mastermind behind many of Biden's policies, a theme we've seen him repeat in his speeches since Biden ended his campaign. And that's by design. When I talk to Trump's advisers, they argue that much of their 2024 election strategy will remain the same and that they'll apply the same playbook that they had to go after Biden on Harris.
That means focusing on the issues they believe Trump pulls better, namely immigration, crime, inflation. But privately, Trump's advisers and those close to the former president acknowledge that they're still figuring out the best way to define her, a task made harder by the Democratic enthusiasm we've seen around her since her announcement.
Now, you can expect Trump to continue trust-driving new lines of attack in the coming weeks while his team continues to monitor what is sticking and playing well with the voters that they view as crucial to November.
Alayna Treene, CNN, Washington.
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FOSTER: Suspense is building over who Harris will pick as her running mate. U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is considering -- is considered rather a contender.
MACFARLANE: And he was joking about the vetting process with the host Jon Stewart during an appearance on "The Daily Show." Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JON STEWART, HOST "THE DAILY SHOW": Are you being vetted right now? Would you know if you're being vetted right now? When they vet you, do you feel it?
Is it a physical sensation? You're being vetted! You know.
PETE BUTTIGIEG, U.S. TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: Yes, you know.
STEWART: You know when you're being vetted?
BUTTIGIEG: Yes.
STEWART: I may vet you. I'm going to vet you right now.
BUTTIGIEG: Please don't.
STEWART: What does it require? Is there, like, is there literally a physical exam that goes along with being vetted?
BUTTIGIEG: Not that I'm aware of. But, I mean, look, all I should say about it is that, you know, she is going to make this decision. She's got a process to help her make the decision.
STEWART: Oh, my God, you're being vetted.
BUTTIGIEG: I mean --
STEWART: Everything you say, even that, is being vetted.
BUTTIGIEG: Probably.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Genius.
MACFARLANE: I love Jon Stewart. I'm vetting you right now, Max.
FOSTER: Oh, are you? I'm feeling it. But I think it's -- Buttigieg and Harris are so aligned. They're very similar in terms of policy, aren't they?
MACFARLANE: They are. FOSTER: And they're both seen as very liberal. Surely she's going to go for someone who represents less of what she is to balance it out.
MACFARLANE: Quite possibly. I mean, that's what the talk is, right? Perhaps someone who might have already been an attorney general themselves. You know, someone who's more aligned with her on that front. We'll wait to see. But it's clear it's open season when it comes to taking pops at Donald Trump right now.
FOSTER: Yes, it feels like that.
Now, in Venezuela, protesters are voicing their anger after Nicolas Maduro is declared the winner of a presidential race that's been marred by accusations of election fraud and disputed by the opposition. Crowds hit the streets in several cities, blocking roads and even toppling a statue of the late leader, Hugo Chavez.
Maduro responded, saying the government knows how to, quote, defeat those who are violent.
MACFARLANE: Demonstrators have denounced the election results, which would see Maduro head to a third term as president. The U.S. and regional leaders are also raising questions about the validity of the results and are calling for election data to be released. Venezuela's opposition says its own candidate is the actual winner and claim they have gathered enough tally sheets to prove it.
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MARIA CORINA MACHADO, VENEZUELAN OPPOSITION LEADER (through translator): Today, we have great news to share with all Venezuelans. It's a miracle. It's a miracle.
And today, I want to tell all Venezuelans, both inside and outside the country, all believers in democracy around the world, that we now have the means to prove truth of what happened yesterday in Venezuela.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Journalist Stefano Pozzebon is following developments for us from Caracas.
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STEFANO POZZEBON, JOURNALIST: Protests have erupted in the city center of Caracas less than 24 hours after the government-controlled electoral authority proclaimed Nicolas Maduro as the winner of last Sunday's presidential election, an election whose results were disputed by many countries in the region. And as you can see, those results have triggered widespread anger in the city of Caracas. Nobody has called for these protests to be organized.
The opposition leadership is yet to make a statement in reaction to that announcement by the electoral authorities, but these people have taken to the streets by themselves. About 50 meters from where I am, you can see the tear gas at the bottom of this road, of this avenue. [04:10:00]
Because there are intense clashes with the forces of the government security forces of Nicolas Maduro. You can see there a semi-armored vehicle. I can see that from the bottom.
People around me are shouting on a microphone that they want freedom and that they won't leave the street until Nicolas Maduro is ousted.
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FOSTER: Stefano there reporting from Caracas.
MACFARLANE: Now, former South African President Jacob Zuma has now been expelled from the party he once led. The African National Congress said Zuma had, quote, actively impugned the integrity of the ANC as it announced its decision. He has now 21 days to appeal.
FOSTER: In January, the ANC had suspended Zuma's membership after he declared support for a rival political party.
MACFARLANE: Now, an absolute heartbreaking scene in northern England where two children have been killed and nine wounded in a knife attack.
FOSTER: The stabbings occurred at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport. The police have arrested a teenage suspect. Anna Stewart has the details.
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ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was late morning in Southport, a seaside town in the north-west of England, when police first received reports of a stabbing. It was quickly declared a major incident with multiple victims. Later in the day, police announced two children had died.
The attack took place during a Taylor Swift-themed yoga class aimed at 6- to 11-year-olds when a man walked in with a knife and started attacking the children. Police said nine other children were injured with six still in critical condition. Two adults were also injured as they tried to protect the children from the assailant. All those injured suffered stab wounds.
A local business owner described it as like a scene from a horror movie, according to PA Media, and he described mothers arriving at the scene screaming.
Merseyside police arrested a 17-year-old male from Banks, a village just outside of Southport, on suspicion of murder and attempted murder. They said the incident is not being treated as terror-related and inquiries are ongoing to establish a motive.
U.K. leaders expressed their shock at the attack. U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer posted a statement on X saying: Horrendous and deeply shocking news emerging from Southport. My thoughts are with all those affected.'
And King Charles issued a statement sending: Heartfelt condolences, prayers and deeper sympathies to the loved ones of those who tragically lost their lives and to all those affected by this truly appalling attack.
Anna Stewart, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MACFARLANE: Well, the man arrested in connection with California's Park Fire has been charged with arson, according to court documents filed on Monday. He will be arraigned on Thursday.
Max, this sort of thing, I think, obviously the event itself is shocking, but we don't see this kind of thing happening all that often in the U.K., do we?
FOSTER: And, you know, we don't have a gun culture, do we? But there are more and more of these knife massacres. And Southport, I think a lot of what I was, you know, seeing on TV, U.K. TV yesterday, was the shock, because Southport is a seaside town.
MACFARLANE: It's not a major city, no.
FOSTER: And Liverpool, quite close, high crime rate, and people move to places like Southport, you know, to bring up a family by the sea.
MACFARLANE: And just the age of the children involved in this, all junior school kids.
FOSTER: But the age of the perpetrator, well, alleged perpetrator, he's a kid himself.
MACFARLANE: 17.
FOSTER: Yes.
MACFARLANE: Yes. I know. The whole thing is just terrible, sad. Anyway, we move on.
The Park Fire has now become the sixth-largest fire in California history. And CNN's Camila Bernal is reporting now.
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CAMILA BERNAL, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Thousands and thousands of acres that look similar to what you see here behind me. So much destruction. And fire officials telling me that the center of the fire is still very active. It's still in very steep terrain and areas where firefighters have difficulty getting to.
But there are two things that have been beneficial. One, better weather conditions over the weekend. And the second is more resources. We now have about 5,000 firefighters on the ground. And they've been able to do a number of things, including coming out to areas like this one to do ground assessments.
We now know that about 100 structures have been destroyed. And the other thing that fire officials told me is that they were able to do a direct aggressive attack on those flames. And that's what helped bring up those containment numbers.
Officials also saying that one of their priorities is to get people back into their homes, especially the people of Butte County. This is a county that already lived through the deadliest fire in California history. And so what they're doing is trying to inform the people of this county and get them back safely into their homes.
So, yes, there is some progress, but there is still a lot of work to be done here.
Camila Bernal, CNN, Butte County, California.
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[04:15:03]
FOSTER: Parts of Southern California were rattled by an earthquake on Monday afternoon. The U.S. Geological Survey says a 4.9 magnitude quake struck Barstow. It's a city around 100 miles northeast of Los Angeles.
MACFARLANE: The Geological Service detected at least two more earthquakes right afterwards and says there was a shaking as far away as Las Vegas. There are no immediate reports of damage.
FOSTER: Still to come, Israel's Prime Minister vows a tough response as he visits the site of a deadly rocket attack in the occupied Golan Heights.
MACFARLANE: Plus, recent rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court have eroded civil liberties, including reproductive rights, as well as Americans' faith in the court. President Biden's solution is ahead.
FOSTER: Later, the Olympic triathlon could become a duathlon in Paris. Water quality concerns keeping swimmers out of the River Seine. We're basically talking about sewage.
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MACFARLANE: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is vowing a severe response to the deadly attack in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights over the weekend. Israel has blamed the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah for the strike.
[04:20:00]
The warning came as Netanyahu visited the site of the attack on Monday.
FOSTER: Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant also spoke with his U.S. counterpart, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, on Monday. A pledge to hold Hezbollah responsible for Saturday's rocket attack, which killed 12 children and injured more than 40 people. Hezbollah has denied responsibility.
MACFARLANE: Meantime, Iran's newly elected president is warning Israel that any attack on Lebanon could, quote, backfire and have severe consequences.
FOSTER: For more let's go to CNN's Paula Hancocks. She's live in Abu Dhabi. A quick question first, Paula.
I mean obviously, Hezbollah is still denying this. You know, do they always take responsibility for these attacks?
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Max, they certainly have in the past taken responsibility for attacks, but many of these attacks or the rocket launches in the past have been targeting military installations in northern Israel itself.
So, I think there is an assumption among many weapons experts, including some that CNN has spoken to, that this was a Hezbollah rocket. Looking at the damage, looking at the aftermath of what has happened, or at least it was a militant rocket that originated from Lebanon.
Hezbollah, though, is still maintaining that it was not their responsibility. We're hearing something very different from Israel. The prime minister visiting the area on Monday saying that there will be severe consequences, that it is Israel's fault and that there is Israeli evidence that they believe that this is Hezbollah.
Let's listen to what he said in the area.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): Hezbollah, backed by Iran, fired an Iranian missile that took the lives of 12 pure souls, 12 children that were playing soccer here and unfortunately couldn't make it to the bomb shelter. Our heart is torn by the heavy disaster. We embrace the families that are going through an indescribable suffering.
These are our children, the children of all of us, and the state of Israel will not and cannot ignore this. Our response will come and it will be harsh.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANCOCKS: The emergency security cabinet in Israel has given Netanyahu and his defense minister, Yoav Gallant, the decision to decide the nature of the response and the timing of the response.
We've also heard from the White House saying that Israel has a right to respond. And we've heard from the Biden administration as well saying that they agree with Israel's assessment and believe that Hezbollah was behind this rocket launch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN KIRBY, WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL SECURITY COMMUNICATIONS ADVISER: Look, Israel has every right to respond. It's Hezbollah that started firing on Israel way back in October and I think we need to keep that in mind but nobody wants a broader war and I'm confident that we'll be able to avoid such an outcome.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANCOCKS: John Kirby also going on to say that he believes there is still time and scope to try and hammer out some kind of a diplomatic solution in this particular situation.
Now we've heard from the Lebanese acting foreign minister as well speaking to CNN's Ben Wedeman and he said that he had had assurances from third-party countries suggesting that the response from Israel could be limited also hinting that the United States and France could be two of those countries. So certainly from Lebanese point of view they're hoping that that is accurate.
MACFARLANE: All right, Paula Hancock's there. Thanks very much Paula from Abu Dhabi.
I want to turn now to Firas Maksad Senior Fellow and Senior Director for Strategic Outreach in the Middle East Institute. Firas, thank you so much for joining us.
Now, you've said you believe that a multi-day Israeli campaign to degrade Hezbollah is coming but not one designed to draw Hezbollah into a major war. Now, if that is so the question turns to how Israel might go about this.
What are your thoughts on the scale and intensity of any retaliation that we may see in the coming days?
FIRAS MAKSAD, SENIOR FELLOW AND SENIOR DIRECTOR, STRATEGIC OUTREACH, MIDDLE EAST INSTITUTE: Yes, Christy, I mean that's the multi-million dollar question here. Clearly there is a lot of back-channel diplomacy. The U.S. very involved, France but also Iran on behalf of Hezbollah and messages being ferried around.
In a perfect scenario this looks somewhat similar to what happened in April when Israel flattened Iran's consulate in Damascus killing several senior generals and Iran responded several days later. It took time for back-channel diplomacy to choreograph and orchestrate the tit-for-tat that followed. And so many are hoping in the region and across other capitals of influence that this could be something similar.
[04:25:00]
This will be multi-day. It will work to degrade and punish Hezbollah for the attack in Majdal Shams but it would steer clear of the Lebanese capital, Beirut, and of vital civilian infrastructure.
It will more importantly leave a pathway for Hezbollah to step back and to begin de-escalation. Now whether that actually comes to fruition is a whole different matter.
MACFARLANE: You mentioned back-channel negotiations there, Firas. We know that efforts are underway to negotiate a ceasefire over Gaza. How key is that to de-escalating tensions right now? Or are there other efforts going on between Western partners? The U.S. in particular, such a close ally to Israel. What else can be done? Or does it all rest on finding a ceasefire solution?
MAKSAD: Well, a ceasefire for Gaza is vital. It is, however, not necessary for the purposes of short-term de-escalation. Listen, the horrific attacks of October 7th were followed by Hezbollah opening fire on October 8th.
Hezbollah has been very clear since then that there's a clear linkage between the Lebanese front and what's happening in Gaza, and that a ceasefire is its prerequisite to actually take on, to accept a deal that's on the table.
There's an American-French proposal that essentially both sides, Hezbollah and Israel, are willing to accept. It sees Hezbollah move some of its key fighters away from that border, Israel withdrawing from some disputed border points.
And so to unlock that, you need a ceasefire in Gaza. And all the sources I've been talking to say we're still at least two, three weeks away from that. The talks in Rome did not make much headway.
FOSTER: I mean, the really central here is the question of Iran, right, and how it decides to get involved, and to what extent, because that would be the real worry.
MAKSAD: Absolutely, Max. I mean, I think Iran is the crucial player here. I've said time and again, Hezbollah is the most valuable investment the Iranian regime has made outside its borders over the past 30, 35 years.
It's its first line of defense should Israel attack its nuclear program. Iran does not want to see Hezbollah spent in a side war, in a devastating war right now with Israel. So the Iranians have every incentive to push on the levers, to break the drive towards an all-out war.
They share that with the current administration, the White House in an election year, just months away from November, very close in the polls between the two candidates, also does not want to see an escalation. And so, yes, there is a hope. There is a pathway for all these reasons.
I mean, many I talk to in the region sort of say, well, there isn't going to be a major war because nobody really wants it. Of course, we all know, students of international relations, that quite often wars happen because of miscalculations, despite the intentions of both sides.
MACFARLANE: When we think about the type of response we might see from Israel, how much pressure do you think Benjamin Netanyahu is coming under from within Israel to actually retaliate? And also when it comes to that northern border, you know, his commitment to defend Israeli territory, is it not simply a case that, you know, his government are pushing for this, but people inside Israel want to see action here?
MAKSAD: Well, I think that's where Hezbollah and many in Lebanon, maybe even in Washington, are miscalculating or underestimating the kind of pressure, the domestic political dynamics that are governing Netanyahu's decision-making.
Obviously, some of them are personal, having to do with his own political future and the accountability for the great failures to foresee the October 7th attacks. But Netanyahu is also under pressure from the left, not just the right wing or the extreme right wing in his coalition.
Even those traditional detractors to the left of Benjamin Netanyahu do not think he's doing enough to push back against Hezbollah and restore Israeli deterrence, much diminished Israeli deterrence in the north.
So, yes, the geopolitics of this aside, the fact that perhaps the Israeli military might be quite tired and may be low on ammunition after 10 months of fighting in Gaza, that's one side of the equation. The other side of the equation is the kind of domestic pressure that Bibi's facing now to do something more significant in Lebanon.
MACFARLANE: All right, Firas Maksad, we appreciate your comments. Thanks very much.
FOSTER: Emergency responders in southern India racing against the clock, trying to rescue those trapped by deadly landslides.
MACFARLANE: First, the U.S. Secret Service is on damage control. We'll tell you what they're promising to do after they failed to stop an assassination attempt on Donald Trump this month.
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