Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
CNN International: Harris Faces an August 7 Deadline to Make Her VP Pick; Harris Launches $50 Million Ad Campaign in Battleground States; Protests Erupt in Venezuela After Maduro Declared Election Winner; IDF Withdraws From Eastern Khan Younis After Ground Incursion; Netanyahu Vows Severe Response to Golan Heights Attack; 17-year-old Boy Arrested After Stabbing Rampage in Britain; Landslides Kill 73 in Southern India, Hundreds Rescued; Tuesday is Forecasted to Be Hottest Day of the Year in Paris; Biden Calls for Supreme Court Reforms, Including Term Limits; Acting Head of the Secret Service to Testify Before Senators; Men's Triathlon Postponed Over Water Quality in the Seine; Simone Biles to Compete In All Four Gymnastics Events Today; Kim Jong-Un's Daughter Training to Lead North Korea; Dragonflies Take Over Rhode Island Beach. Aired 8-9a ET
Aired July 30, 2024 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[08:00:25]
AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWSROOM": Hello, everyone and welcome to our viewers all around the world. I'm Amara Walker. This is "CNN Newsroom." Just ahead, the U.S. vice president is looking to seize the momentum she has. Kamala Harris heads to the battleground state of Georgia for the first time as the presumptive Democratic nominee, and anti-government protesters flooded the streets in Venezuela amid doubts over the legitimacy of the presidential election results, and walking a tight rope in the Middle East, Israel weighs it's response to Saturday's deadly rocket strike against the risks of sparking a wider war with Hezbollah.
If you want to know how a presidential candidate plans to win the White House, you don't just listen to what they say, you also look at where they're saying it. Kamala Harris will hold a primetime rally in Atlanta, Georgia tonight. Georgia delivered a surprising victory for Joe Biden four years ago after three decades of being safe territory for the Republicans, and the Harris campaign says they expect to hold onto this state by appealing to Georgia Republicans who are not fans of Donald Trump.
The campaign is also touting the fact that it has seen more than 7,000 volunteers sign up to work for Harris in Georgia in just the past week. Let's dig deeper now into the strategy and everything else happening in the campaign. I'm joined now by Shelby Talcott, politics reporter for the news platform Semafor. Shelby, good to see you this morning. So, let's talk about Kamala Harris' trip to Georgia. I mean, this is the first time, as you said, the first visit for her in this battleground state as the presumptive presidential candidate on the Democratic side.
What does this tell you that she's making this her first stop here, about how Democrats and her campaign view Georgia after many Democrats became quite disillusioned with even being able to win the state as Biden had lost so much popularity?
SHELBY TALCOTT, POLITICS REPORTER, SEMAFOR: Yeah, I think that the then Biden, now Harris campaign is feeling really energized and feels like, now that they have Harris and have sort of been able to convince Joe Biden to step aside, that there are more states in play and that there are more opportunities for Democrats to win the White House than they originally had with the president.
And so that's really important. I think that they also think that Harris can appeal to black voters who will be crucial in the state of Georgia. And of course, Donald Trump has his issues in the state. He lost narrowly in 2020. He has not necessarily gotten along with the governor there. So, there are a lot of people who like the Republican governor there, but don't necessarily like Donald Trump himself.
And so as you said, they believe that they can win and over those voters as well. And so, this is a state that a lot of Democrats thought maybe wasn't in play this time around and they're feeling really energized and they're feeling like there's some change on the horizon.
WALKER: Yeah, you definitely see and feel that energy and excitement within the Democratic Party. So when it comes to Kamala Harris' best path forward to the 270 electoral college votes that she will need. Obviously, the strategy will be different than what President Biden's strategy was, which was really focused on sweeping the blue wall states of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania. It seems like there's lot of talk about her locking in the sun belt states.
TALCOTT: Yeah. Like I said, there seems to be more opportunities and now, the polling is early, which I want to stress. I'm curious to see what the polling is going to look like in about a month, once Harris is out on the campaign trail sort of full-time and has been reintroduced to voters as Donald Trump continues to make his push. But certainly, originally, the path to the White House under Biden seemed very narrow for Democrats. And now that they have Harris, it has suddenly opened up.
I still think a state like Pennsylvania, it's going to be crucial, which obviously plays into who she potentially picks for VP. But there are more opportunities for Democrats now.
WALKER: And explain to our viewers -- we'll talk about the veepstakes in just a bit -- but why Pennsylvania will be so crucial -- is always so crucial.
TALCOTT: Yeah, I mean, it has 19 electoral votes.
[08:05:00]
It is hugely important to winning and particularly for Democrats, this time of year -- this time around. And that's why she's considering I think -- one of the reasons she's considering Josh Shapiro, of course, as her one of her VP picks because it is such a crucial state. It has so many electoral votes, it holds so -- it holds so much importance on that map for them to win.
WALKER: So, let's move to the running mate question and this is obviously a truncated timeline that Kamala Harris is working with, less than 100 days before the election. But also, the anticipation is that she will make this announcement by or before August 7 when the Democratic delegates hold that virtual nomination vote. North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper has removed himself from consideration for a variety of reason. I'm sure the age factor also played a role.
What are your thoughts on his voluntary withdrawal and also, what this means for the search for a VP nominee?
TALCOTT: I think it underscores what a difficult time that the Harris campaign has with picking a nominee. Remember, we knew sort of a general list of who Donald Trump was looking at for several months. And then, we sort of had an idea of who his top three were for another few months. And so, they are having to do this it's on such a slim timeline that for VP hopefuls, it's much harder, right? Especially, these people, all of them are lawmakers, all of them are governing their own states or are senators. And so, it makes it much more difficult to sort of drop everything and say, OK, yeah, now suddenly, I'm going to run for vice president.
WALKER: Politics Reporter, Shelby Talcott, it was great to have you. Thanks for the conversation. And we are also getting word today of a new ad campaign Kamala Harris' team is launching. With more on that, let's go to the White House and CNN's Priscilla Alvarez. Hi there, Priscilla. Tell us more about but this really significant ad buy.
PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is an ad buy that is previewing what her argument is going to be over the next few months. And that is that she's going to prosecute the case against former President Donald Trump. And this is something that they're going to put on the airwaves across the country, especially those battleground states. And the idea, of course, here is to take that surge of enthusiasm over -- that has happened over the last week and turn -- make it into action.
And that is something that she's going to be doing today in Georgia. That of course, is a critical state and one that Democrats want to keep in play. It's one President Biden narrowly won in 2020. And when he did, it marked the first time a Democratic presidential candidate had won in nearly 30 years. So, the vice president will be taking her argument there in a rally to try to, again, get voters excited and mobilized in what has become a new phase of the campaign. But, it is also a state that is competitive and officials are well aware of that.
WALKER: And I'm sorry -- I thought you were tossing to a sound bite. Sorry about that. So, we were just talking about Roy Cooper, the North Carolina Governor, withdrawing himself from consideration as a potential VP choice for Kamala Harris. What are you hearing about this list that should be getting shorter by the day?
ALVAREZ: Well, as you heard from Shelby, this is a truncated timeline that they're working on. Now, sources tell us she wants to make a decision by August 7, and there will come a point, although it's unclear when, that she will start to have those private conversations with some of the top contenders. Now, we did learn yesterday that Roy Cooper is off the list. He said that it wasn't the right time for him to leave his state, but there's certainly several others who are under consideration, including, for example, Josh Shapiro and Mark Kelly and Tim Waltz.
So, those conversations are ongoing as the Harris team also pours over documents, financial documents, family, everything you can imagine, to try to determine who may be the best running mate for her, especially to try to capitalize on some states that may otherwise be difficult for her to win. So certainly, all this is ongoing, but there is a timeline here and sources tell us she certainly wants to make that decision before August 7.
WALKER: Timeline, as we said. Priscilla Alvarez, thanks so much, at the White House for us.
So in Venezuela, protesters are voicing their anger after Nicolas Maduro was declared the winner of Sunday's presidential election. The vote was marred by accusations of election fraud and disputed by the opposition. Crowds at the streets in several cities Monday blocking roads and burning cars. Maduro responded saying the government knows how to "defeat those who are violent."
Journalist Stefano Pozzebon joining us now, live from Caracas, Venezuela with the very latest. So, what is going on right now?
[08:10:00]
STEFANO POZZEBON, JOURNALIST: Well, Amara, what is going on is a clash between a government that is entrenching itself more and more on its power, that was looking for international legitimacy through an election. That was never going to be free or fair because you don't have that type of elections here in Venezuela. But it was meant to be competitive. And then instead, with the results that were published on -- early on Monday morning and with the outcry from the international community, calling on electoral authorities to release all the data and all the ballot numbers that they have, while the government has lost almost any legitimacy on the international stage, apart from the usual friends, China, Russia, Iran, and Cuba, who have all congratulated Maduro already.
On the other side. You have a population that is enormously discontent with the current government. According to polls that were done before the election took place, more than 60 percent of the Venezuelans were staunchly in favor all for the opposition ticket at the ballot. And they now feel that they have been cheated on. And of course, yesterday, we saw this dissatisfaction, this frustration erupt in widespread protests here in Caracas. We heard early in the morning, (inaudible) which is when people bang on their pots and tried to make as much noise as possible as a sign of protest.
That is very common in other Latin American countries and has been very common here in Venezuela as well. And then in the afternoon, most of the people from the slums, from the outskirts of Caracas, people -- working-class people that normally would be more associated with the socialist government of Nicolas Maduro, well, they took to the streets and clashed with police and the national guard.
Today, the opposition has called for new activities on the street. They're not calling for widespread protests yet. It's important to remark that yesterday's protests were spontaneous and they were not coordinated. The opposition leadership has instead called for street activities starting today, later in the morning, and they've published what they say are the data from the ballots that they have been able to collect. So there is now, I would say, a race to transparency between the opposition leadership and the electoral authorities, both of whom have been called upon to release the data. And this race to transparency is erupting onto the street and you can expect more protests here later in the day, Amara.
WALKER: I'm sure we can. Stefano Pozzebon in Caracas, Venezuela, thank you.
Let's turn now to the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, and Israel's military is withdrawing from eastern Khan Younis after a grounded incursion that killed dozens of Palestinians. Thousands more were forced to flee once again, after the IDF issued evacuation orders in parts of the city a week ago. The U.N. says more than 150,000 people fled, many on foot or on donkey carts. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says he is concerned about a possible escalation between Israel and Hezbollah, but does not believe a war between the two is inevitable.
Now this, as the Israeli prime minister vows a severe response to the Saturday's rocket attack in the Israeli occupied Golan Heights, where 12 children were killed. Benjamin Netanyahu visited this site, that soccer pitch, Monday and Israel has blamed the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah for the strike. Hezbollah has denied responsibility.
Let's bring in CNN's Paula Hancocks, who is joining us now live from Abu Dhabi. Paula, what more are we learning about this strike?
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Amara, at this point, we are waiting to see what the Israeli response will be to this deadly strike on Saturday, which as you say, killed 12 children, injured more than 40 others. Now, Hamas has denied responsibility, but Israel and also the United States, both say that they believe -- excuse me, Hezbollah was behind this particular attack. So, the Emergency Security Cabinet in Israel has given the prime minister and the defense minister the go-ahead to decide on the nature and the timing of the response to this particular attack.
We have been hearing, as you mentioned, from the Biden Administration, that they are still hopeful that they can avert this wider conflict in the region and expansion of the conflict. We heard from Lloyd Austin, the Defense Secretary in the United States, while speaking in the Philippines with his counterparts, said that he does believe that a wider conflict can be averted. Let's listen to what he said.
[08:15:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LLOYD AUSTIN, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE, UNITED STATES: Well, we've seen a lot of activity on Israel's northern border. We remain concerned about the potential of this escalating into a full-blown fight. And I don't believe that a fight is inevitable. I think that we'd like to see things resolved in a diplomatic fashion.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANCOCKS And National Security Council's John Kirby Also saying that he believes there is still time and space to be able to hammer out some kind of diplomatic solution.
Now, we've heard also from Lebanon's acting foreign minister speaking to CNN's Ben Wedeman. We understand that he has had assurances from third-party countries that the response from Israel would be limited. But despite those assurances, we are seeing many countries telling their citizens that they should leave Lebanon. This really started last month, seeing that many countries, especially in Europe, telling their citizens to leave while they can.
But this has really intensified in recent days. We've heard from the United States, for example, telling their citizens that if they don't leave now and if tensions do increase and the situation deteriorates, they may then have to shelter in place. They are not, at this point though, saying that there will be evacuations of citizens and they are also saying that when it comes to the U.S. Embassy, for example, the key indicator of tensions in any country around the world, that the staffing and the security at the U.S. Embassy has not changed at this point.
But we are seeing, for example, just on Monday, Germany and Belgium telling their citizens that it would be prudent for them to leave. So really, over the next few days, it would appear to be key as to what will happen when it comes to the tensions between Israel and Hezbollah. We are still seeing the regular for tit for tat, if you like, between the two sides. But certainly, there is a concern that there could be something more significant after that deadly attack on Saturday. We've heard, for example, the prime minister saying that his response will be severe. Amara?
WALKER: All right. Paula Hancocks, thank you for your reporting there from Abu Dhabi.
A town in northern England is in mourning after a deadly stabbing attack at a dance school. We are going to tell you after the break what we know about the suspect. Plus, recovery efforts are underway after deadly landslides in southern India, the latest disaster in a rainy season, that has killed hundreds and displaced millions across South Asia.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WALKER: A 17 year-old is sitting in a British jail at this hour, accused of going on a stabbing rampage. Three children lost their lives in the knife attack and that is according to police in Southport near Liverpool.
[08:20:00] It happened Monday at a dance school, nine others are being treated for injuries, six remain in critical condition. Britain's prime minister said he was shocked by this tragic incident.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEIR STARMER, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Our thoughts and condolences with the victims, their families, their friends and the wider community. And it is almost impossible to imagine the grief that they are going through.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALKER: The children were at the school for a Taylor Swift themed yoga class. Earlier on Tuesday, the singer said that she is in complete shock. Salma Abdelaziz joining us from London with the details. Hi, Salma. What do we know about a potential motive?
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We don't as of yet, Amara, and I think that's just adding to the sense of shock, horror and disbelief that is absolutely reverberating across this country right now. No motive, a 17-year-old in custody, an investigation underway, and several children still in hospital being treated for critical injuries. One of those children, a nine-year-old girl, passed away from her injuries just this morning. That makes the total number of victims killed in this horrifying stabbing rampage three killed -- three little girls ages nine, six and seven-years-old.
Taylor Swift has spoken out and I do have her statement to read to you because I think it begins to capture that sense of anguish across this country. The horror of yesterday's attack in Southport is washing over for me continuously, she writes, and I'm just completely in shock. The loss of life and innocence, and the horrendous trauma inflicted on everyone who was there, the families, and first responders, these were just little kids at a dance class. I am at a complete loss for how to ever convey my sympathies to these families. I really think that there is a sense across Britain right now of just shock.
This really resonates, Amara, the details of it, the detail that it was in a mom-and-baby center. This is a very common community thing that happens in nearly every neighborhood in England. The fact that it was just these young children gathered for a Taylor Swift-themed dance class. And then of course, this looming question that hangs over everyone right now, why? How? Why and how could this happen to these innocent young children?
WALKER: Just awful. Salma Abdelaziz, thank you.
The death toll has risen to 73 as a rescue operation is underway to help the survivors of devastating landslides that hit southern India overnight. Three villages were hit, impacting hundreds of homes and destroying a bridge that connected the communities. A temporary bridge has been built to help people get to safety and allow rescue workers to reach the scene. CNN's Hanako Montgomery has more.
HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In the hours after massive landslides swept southern India, we are hearing some details about some of the rescued survivors. We are hearing they've sustained a lacerations, fractured bones, and also mud in their lungs. Doctors are having to use ventilators to keep those survivors alive because they've spent so long under debris that they now have mud in their lungs.
Now, rescue operations are still underway to try to find those remaining survivors, but they're facing a number of hurdles. One is the fact that a very crucial bridge that connects to a couple of remote villages has completely collapsed. Meaning, those villagers are now isolated and stranded. Electricity is also down, so they physically cannot call for any help.
I want you to take a look at this video that shows just the extent of devastation that we are seeing near this collapsed bridge. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MONTGOMERY (voice-over): Really devastating footage for these locals. Now, we also know that emergency operators are using a couple of helicopters to try to airlift those remaining survivors. But because the weather in Wayanad, where these landslides took place, continues to be very, very bad, they physically cannot operate these helicopters and get access to those remaining survivors.
Now, one last thing to note is the fact that it's currently monsoon season in India right now. It lasts until about September. So for places like Wayanad, which are hilly, there are particularly prone to landslides.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MONTGOMERY: But for the entire country of India, for India as a whole, they're going to have to grapple with several more weeks of this kind of very extreme and fatal, devastating weather.
Hanako Montgomery, CNN, Tokyo.
WALKER: And as you heard Hanako say there, summer is the wettest time of year in southern India and heavy rain contributed to this tragic landslide. Let's check in with Meteorologist Derek Van Dam now with more on how today's forecast is looking, Derek.
[08:25:00]
DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yeah, it looks likely to see more rain, unfortunately, in some of these hardest hit areas. We've been monitoring some of the live feeds coming out of the state of Kerala. And yeah, it looks wet and the ongoing rescue operations right now are being hampered by the wet weather. But just looking at this scene that is unfolding in southwest India, it is just traumatic what these people are dealing with. The mud and the debris that is associated with these landslides, and it as all because of the amount of rain that has fallen in a short period of time. We did a bit of research within this subcontinent and you can see where the heaviest of rain has taken place. There's Kochi. There is the state of Kerala. The last 24 hours has seen anywhere from 150 to 200 millimeters of rain, and it just simply cannot hold that amount of rain in an already saturated soil. So you get the mountainous terrain or the hilly terrain and eventually, gravity winds, the slope fails, and down goes the debris along with it. So, it can include rocks. It can include full trees, even sometimes sweeping homes off of their foundations, taking them downhill along with it.
So this is all part of the southwest monsoon. You can see the normal progression through the months of June and July through India. More rain is in this forecast. You can just see that onshore flow from the Arabian Sea that will bring rainfall to the hardest hit areas. Computer projections anywhere from another 150 millimeters up for some of these locations.
Now, the other story, this is completely different topic, but something we are also monitoring very closely. The hottest day of the year in Paris, of course, we have our two weeks of the Summer Olympics occurring right now. There has been a lot of discussion around what is happening for the spectators and the athletes as well. And because Paris is so densely populated with buildings, this actually can kind of disproportionally impact the heat and the people on the ground as well, as this just traps the heat within what we call the urban heat island effect.
Of course, we've got our greenhouse gases trapping in the heat closest to the surface where people live and reside. And that of course, impacts people here on the ground. So right now, already temperatures warming to 37 degrees. This is the warmest, what we've experienced all year long in Paris. So right now, we need to be very cognizant of how this could impact the athletes today. Heavy rainfall and large hail though, with these extreme temperatures that are occurring right now, we got a lot of bubbling cleanup of summertime thunderstorms, some of which could be strong to severe today. So, we'll want to monitor that as well. Amara?
WALKER: All right. Derek Van Dam, thank you very much.
Still to come, more sociopathic and less mentally stable, that is how Donald Trump's vice presidential nominee once described people who don't have children, the details next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:30:45]
WALKER: Donald Trump's vice presidential pick is facing new scrutiny following his controversial childless cat lady comments. New reporting by CNN's K-File reveals that J.D. Vance has a long history of making disparaging remarks about people without children. In a 2020 interview, Vance said that childless children or Americans, excuse me -- especially those in leadership positions were "more sociopathic and less mentally stable.
Donald Trump meanwhile is trying to clean up his running mate's cat lady remarks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP,(R) FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES AND PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He made a statement having to do with families. That doesn't mean that people that aren't a member of a big and beautiful family with 400 children around and everything else, it doesn't mean that a person doesn't have -- he's not against anything, but he loves family. It's very important to him. All he said is he does like (inaudible) for him, he likes family.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALKER: CNN's Alayna Treene joining me now, live in Washington, with more. Alayna, we know how much Trump loves to talk about himself and the fact that the spotlight is on J.D. Vance and now, he's trying to clean up his cat lady comments. I mean, does that indicate that the campaign is worried about this pick?
ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Amara, I've talked to the Trump campaign as well as the Vance campaign about these comments extensively. And the way that they view it is, look, they recognize that this is not a good look for J.D. Vance, particularly when it was really his first week out on the trail as Donald Trump's running mate. They don't like that these comments are re-circulating. They don't necessarily like some of the things that he has said, but I'm also told that he's not rethinking Vance as his pick.
There's a number of reasons for that. One is that he does still really believe in Vance. He thinks he's been doing a great job on the road as well as in fundraisers, things that are about the now rather than comments he has made in the past. But also, it's Donald Trump we are talking about. I don't think he would, you know, unless something really bad happened with Vance and some people may argue that these comments are that, he's not going to try to rethink his running mate because that's not a good look for Donald Trump either.
Now, I do want you to take a listen to some of the things that J.D. Vance said specifically, because as you mentioned in this open, this K-File reporting is stunning. They have found that this was not a one- off, those childless cat ladies comments. He has said very similar things repeatedly over the years. Here's something he told a podcast in 2020.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. J.D. VANCE, (R-OH) VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There are just these basic cadences of life that I think are really powerful and really, really valuable when you have kids in your life. And the fact that so many people, especially in America's leadership class, just don't have that in their lives, you know, I worry that it makes people more sociopathic and ultimately our whole country a little bit less mentally stable.
And of course, you talk about going on Twitter. Final point I'll make is, you go on Twitter and almost always the people who are most deranged and most psychotic are people who don't have kids.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TREENE: So just, I mean, stunning comments from Donald Trump's running mate there. He also said this in 2019, take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VANCE: I've seen people who become more attached to their communities, to their families, to their country because they have children. So, I would say that we should care about declining fertility, not just because it's bad for our economy, but because we think babies are good and we think babies are good because we are not sociopaths.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TREENE: So as you can see with those comments, I mean, he had used the word sociopathic multiple times. He referred to people who are childless as potentially more psychotic. I mean, it's clear that again, those comments that resurfaced from 2021 last week are not the only time he has said things like this. That J.D. Vance genuinely believes that people who do not have children do not view the world the same way, that they aren't making as maybe smart policy decisions for the country.
I won't say that when he tried to clean up these remarks himself, he said that they were out of context, but he also tried to argue that he was trying to make the point that the Democratic Party is more anti- family and anti-child. Of course, Democrats have disputed those claims.
[08:35:00]
But I think the big picture here is that he does believe this. I mean, he has said this multiple times and the fact that it is still a story today shows how much the American people are really concerned about these remarks.
WALKER: And I'm sure this will continue to be a story and an attack line for the Harris campaign. When it comes to Kamala Harris, Alayna, do you get the sense that Trump and the Trump campaign, they're having -- they're struggling to define Harris or streamline their attacks against her?
TREENE: Oh, absolutely. I mean, you could see that -- I was at that rally in Minnesota over the weekend with both Trump and Vance, and Donald Trump was really just throwing the kitchen sink of attack lines against her. Remember, they have had the entire election cycle, they've really spent working on a playbook to go after Joe Biden, not Harris. And now, they're trying to figure out exactly how to define her and they don't -- they aren't as sure of that.
Now, what I want to point your attention to is something that I also found fascinating, another J.D. Vance stumble that 'The Washington Post' uncovered about his private remarks to donors. Take a listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VANCE: 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)
TREENE: Now, again, that was from Isaac Arnsdorf at 'The Washington Post' who obtained this audio. But look, this is a complete 180 and very much stands in contrast with Donald Trump and what he has been saying about maybe Harris being worse than Joe Biden. It's very clear that what they are saying publicly is not necessarily what they believe privately, and this confirms as well some of the reporting I have in my conversations with Trump's senior advisers.
During -- right after the debate and before Biden ended his campaign, the Trump team was essentially measuring the drapes. They thought that they had this election in the bag. Now, with Harris, it is an entirely different race. They have an entirely different opponent. And they do believe that she's stronger, in part because she is younger and she is fresher, as J.D. Vance laid out in that private fundraiser. And so, over the next few weeks, we are going to see them really workshopping these lines, may be changing strategy here and there, while they continue to figure out what sticks with her and what the American people find that resonates with them when it comes to the attacks on Harris. Amara?
WALKER: It is stunning to hear that audio though, because the public messaging and the private messaging, as you said, is quite different. The obviously see Kamala Harris as a formidable opponent. Alayna Treene, thank you.
President Joe Biden is proposing a long-shot radical change to the U.S. supreme court, term limits for the justices. Liberal activists have advocated for such limits and other reforms, and those calls are amping up after the courts conservative majority forced through several deeply unpopular decisions with huge ramifications. Paula Reid has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Biden calling for major reforms to the supreme court.
JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: The court is being used to weaponize an extreme and unchecked agendas.
REID (voice-over): Speaking at an event in Austin, Texas, he laid out his plan which would allow a president to select a justice every two years and limit those justices to 18-year terms.
BIDEN: That would make timing for the court's nomination more predictable, unless arbitrary. Reduce the chance that any single president he imposes undue influence for generations to come.
REID (voice-over): And implement a binding code of conduct, requiring disclosure of gifts, no public political activity, and recusal from cases where justices' family has a stake. The court's current code is voluntary and has no enforcement mechanism.
BIDEN: The court is not self-policing. The court is not dealing with the obvious conflicts of interests. We need a mandatory code of ethics for the supreme court, and we need it now.
(APPLAUSE)
REID (voice-over): He also called for a constitutional amendment that would make it clear there is no immunity for crimes a former president commits while in office. He previously criticized the court for its recent decision and Donald Trump's claim of immunity.
BIDEN: This nation was founded on the principle that there are no kings in America. Each -- each of us is equal before the law.
REID (voice-over): The call for action comes as approval ratings for the court hover at historic lows. A recent poll in May found that 61 percent of Americans disapprove of the job the court is doing. But Biden's plan would require Congressional action on a highly partisan issue. Republican leaders in both chambers promising it's going nowhere fast.
[08:40:00]
With Speaker Mike Johnson saying it's dead on arrival in the House, and Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell calling the proposal an attack on the court.
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL, (R-KY) U.S. SENATE REPUBLICAN LEADER: And all our campaign against the court's legitimacy and ultimately, against its very existence.
REID (voice-over): And on the 2024 campaign trail, the supreme court remains a hot button issue.
TRUMP: She will try as hard as she can to add as many justices as possible to the U.S. Supreme court, we don't want that to happen, do we?
REID (voice-over): Leonard Leo, who helped Trump install a conservative super majority on the high court, issued a rare statement rebuking Biden's plan. If Democrats want to adopt an across-the-board ethics ban for all branches, I am in favor of that. Until they support that, let's all be honest about what this is, a campaign to destroy a court that they disagree with.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
REID (on camera): The White Houser revealed that Vice President Harris was closely consulted on this proposal, and she even endorsed it on Monday. But the White House stopped short of saying that this was a realistic proposal that could actually pass Congress, instead saying they were merely going to give it "the old team try." Now, the court has not weighed in.
Paula Reid, CNN, Washington.
WALKER: Paula, thank you. Former President Donald Trump will be interviewed by the FBI more than two weeks after surviving an assassination attempt. The FBI says it is looking for Trump's perspective on what happened that day as they investigate the would-be assassin's motive. In about two hours from now, the acting director of the Secret Service will testify to Congress about new measures for ensuring security at public events and for keeping VIPs safe.
CNN's Whitney Wild is joining us now from Chicago. Whitney, we are getting word about the acting director's prepared remarks before lawmakers, what might she say-- he say?
WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: Amara, Ron Rowe is expected to say -- yeah, that's OK. That's OK. The former director is Kimberly Cheatles, so you're OK. The -- so, what Acting Director Ron Rowe is going to say is that one of the first things that he has done in his new role is go to the Butler rally. And he's going to say that he climbed up on the roof, laid prone, and tried to see what that shooter would have seen.
And after doing that, he said point blank in his prepared remarks, what he saw made him ashamed and he says as a -- as a many-decade member of law enforcement as well as a 25-year veteran of the United States Secret Service, he cannot defend why that roof was not better prepared.
Amara, there is a lot of new information coming out. Senator Grassley's office has released a trove of text messages as well as body camera, which are showing really the local law enforcement side of this advance as well as the operation, and what these texts messages show is that, on the day of the rally, Thomas Matthew Crooks was spotted by members of local law enforcement 90 minutes before gunfire started. But it seems that local law enforcement lost track of him.
And at one point, these text messages suggest that they believe he might have been walking away from the event, like they believe you may have left. So, there was quite a bit of confusion leading up to the gunfire and what we know from the previous hearing was that, while law enforcement on scene believed that this man was suspicious, the Secret Service did not believe that he was a threat until seconds before the gunfire started, and that is obviously just way too late.
And so, what you're going to hear from this joint hearing today, this is the Senate Judiciary Committee as well as Senate Homeland and Government Affairs Committee, is going to be a lot of questions about what happened in the advance?. Why was this building, which was just 150 yards from the podium, why was that left out of the secured perimeter?
And the secured perimeter means that anybody going in there would have had to go through a mag (ph) basically, so they would have been warned (ph), checked for weapons. So the big question is, why was that building so unsecured, but yet so close to the podium? And then further, what they're going to be looking for is accountability and then certainly, more detail on what the Secret Service is doing right this second to make sure that this never happens again, Amara.
WALKER: Well, we will be watching his remarks very closely. Whitney Wild, thank you so much, live for us there in Chicago.
All right, still to come. Simone Biles will be back in action in Paris just hours from now. We'll have a preview, straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:46:30]
WALKER: It is a busy day of action at the Paris Games with sports from badminton to swimming and tennis competition today. The men's triathlon will not be one of them, however. It has been postponed until Wednesday over concerns about the water quality in the River Seine.
Today is the hottest day of the year so far in Paris. Luckily, the women's gymnastics competition is indoors, and that is where American superstar Simone Biles is expected to compete in all four women's team events.
Looking at the medal count Japan is on top right now with six gold medals, followed by three countries that are tied with five each, including the host country, France. Team U.S.A. is in sixth place with three gold, but the most metals overall with 20, as you can see there.
Let's bring in our Amanda Davis, joining us now, live from Paris. Amanda, let's talk about the River Seine because, obviously, that was a concern going into the Olympics regarding its water quality. And of course, if there was rain, then that would obviously lead to delays. What are city organizers saying about the cleanup?
AMANDA DAVIES, CNN WORLD SPORT: Yeah. I have to say, Amara, this is not good news for the Olympic organizers. Yesterday, the president of world triathlon said to me, the chances of the men's events happening today were 80 percent. But, since today's latest postponement, we understand she has been speaking to the media in the last few minutes that she has now said the chances are 60/40. So rather than things improving, it seems that it is getting even more unlikely that the men's triathlon will be set to take place tomorrow.
That is because we are talking about pollution levels in the water which the athletes have to swim in, as one of the three disciplines in the triathlon. As you rightly say, it has been a massive campaign over the last few years to clean up the River Seine, because for hundred years it's been illegal for people to swim in it.
But what they are doing is blaming the weather conditions which, as you might remember, on Thursday and Friday and Saturday were dreadful here in Paris. There was torrential rain; that has seen the water levels rise and they are blaming that on the conditions in the river as things stands. To make matters worse for organizers, not only have they postponed the men's event from today to tomorrow, as things stand, when the women's event is also due to take place, there has now been another whether warning issued over the area of Paris.
It's an orange weather warning, which is the second highest level because of thunder storm concerns in the region in the next few hours later today because of the temperatures that you're talking about. You suspect if that happens, there's more rain, it is only going to make the problem worse and we've been hearing a lot of people say, but what on earth does this mean for the athletes? This is the moment that they've been training for, dedicating their lives for, for the last three years and much longer, of course.
And the director of the French Triathlon Federation has said there is some anger and disappointment from his athletes. They got to the point of waking up this morning and eating breakfast before they heard the news. There is hope this will happen in some form, but whether that form is what the athletes were expecting, what they're hoping for, for their big moment remains to be seen.
[08:50:00]
WALKER: Well, hope is all you've got, so keep hoping. Let's go indoors quickly, Amanda, and gymnastics, of course. I want to talk about gymnastics, synonymous to Simone Biles. It is all about her really, it seems like. Four gymnastics events, even though she's nursing an injury?
DAVIES: Yeah. I mean, it was Simone came out at the qualifying event and used a bit of Taylor Swift in her music. I think 'Shake It Off' might actually been the most relevant Taylor Swift tune to have been using because she's got that heavily strapped ankle and calf. And there was a lot of concern don't about what does that mean for her individual events and also the team competition with Team U.S.A. gymnastics, which is taking place today.
But I guess, if you want to allay fears, what do you do? Well, you say you're going to take part in all four disciplines and that is what she is due to do. This today is the day, of course, people are talking about redemption, a chance to really rewrite the history books given what happened in Tokyo four years ago. The U.S. are very much the favorites going into this one. And the first discipline they'll be taking part in is the vault. That was where Simone Biles suffered the twisties three years ago. That is the moment that forced her to withdraw from the games.
So, it's a real opportunity to come out of the block straight away and there'll be looking to really lay down a marker from the off it (ph), promises to be a brilliant night. Maybe the temperatures inside will be cooler, but the performances are set to raise that somewhat.
WALKER: I'm sure it will. Amanda Davies at the Paris Games. Good to see you, Amanda. Thank you.
Still to come, is Kim Jong-Un's daughter in training to take her father's place? What we are learning about the North Korean leader's health.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WALKER: She's not even a teenager yet, but South Korean authorities say the young daughter of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un is already being trained to be his successor. The news comes amid South Korean intelligence reports that the leader's health may be deteriorating. CNN's Will Ripley has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In flood-ravaged North Korea, along a swollen river near the Chinese border, North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un overseeing the evacuation of thousands, noticeably absent from state media coverage, Kim Jong's daughter, Kim Ju-Ae now undergoing secret succession training, South Korean lawmakers say, suggesting the elementary age girl is being groomed as the next North Korean leader.
Two lawmakers in Seoul briefed by the National Intelligence Service say Kim Jong-Un's health may be deteriorating, his doctors searching for new medications to treat Kim. He has a family history of heart disease, weighs more than 300 pounds, a dangerously high body mass index in the mid-40s, high stress, smoking and drinking, all putting the 40-year-old Kim at high risk, lawmakers say. They add succession plans could change, but right now, all signs point to Kim Ju-Ae, who could become the first female and fourth generation leader of the ruling Kim family.
Kim Il-Sung died in 1994. Kim Jong-Il died in 2011, the year Kim Jong- Un came to power in his 20s. His second can child believed to be 10 to 12-years-old, bearing a striking resemblance to her father, a fixture by his side since her debut in late 2022 at missile launches, military banquets, massive parades.
[08:55:00]
South Korean intelligence says, she's now engaging in non-public activities. Pyeongyang where of reaction to her young age, adjusting propaganda, reducing public appearances as her father consolidates the Kim family's power, bolstering ties with Russian strong man Vladimir Putin, building up his military spy satellite program, and South Korea says stepping up training for a success to someday take control of North Korea's growing nuclear arsenal.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
RIPLEY (on camera): Kim Jong-Un is the third son of the late Kim Jong-Il. He was reportedly chosen as the successor on his eighth birthday, but the outside world didn't find out until many years later. This very public reveal that we saw of Kim Ju-Ae about a year- and-a-half ago may have been the beginning experts say of a personality cult for Kim's daughter. But now that people know who she is, she needs to build her military credentials behind the scenes over time.
Will Ripley, CNN, Taipei.
WALKER: Fascinating report about such an opaque country. Will, thank you.
Finally this hour, a beach in Rhode Island was buzzing with the sound of dragonflies.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have never seen anything like this in my life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALKER: Oh, that looks like Armageddon to me, swarms of the insects took over the beach on Saturday. Some people were frightened, others were fascinated. And one witness says about half the people who were there simply left.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At first, there was -- there were a lot of dragonflies and then there was millions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALKER: Millions, that's what it looks like. One expert says the dragonflies were migrating and would, in any case, do no harm to anyone. I would have absolutely left.
Thanks for joining me here on "CNN Newsroom." I'm Amara Walker. "Connect The World" with Becky Anderson is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:00:00]
