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CNN International: Israeli Military Claims Responsibility For Strike In Beirut Suburbs; Vance & Harris On Campaign Trail In Battlegrounds Nevada & Georgia; Team USA Women's Gymnastics Score All- Around Gold; Haiti PM Interview With CNN Ends In Shots Fired; Acting Secret Service Chief: There Will Be Accountability. Aired 3-4p ET
Aired July 30, 2024 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN HOST: It is 8:00 p.m. in London, 10:00 p.m. in Beirut, 3:00 p.m. here in Washington.
I'm Jim Sciutto. Thanks so much for joining me today on CNN NEWSROOM. And let's get right to the news.
We are following breaking news in the Middle East. The Israeli military is now claiming responsibility for an attack in the southern suburbs of Beirut. You're looking at images of the destruction that followed. Israel says it targeted the commander it says was behind an attack in Israeli occupied Golan -- the Golan Heights that killed 12 children earlier this weekend. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had vowed serious consequences for that attack.
Lebanese state media reports, today's strike was conducted by a drone that fired three missiles. The IDF has not provided details about how exactly the strike was carried out itself.
Matthew Chance, CNN's chief global affairs correspondent, has been following events from London.
Matthew, do we know yet if Israel believes that it hit the target of the strike?
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: There's not been an indication of that of that yet. We're waiting for the battle damage assessment from the Israeli authorities, Israeli military, where they will give their intelligence assessment of that.
But I mean, look at those images from the suburb of southern Beirut, which is a Hezbollah stronghold. It's clearly had a lot of damage inflicted upon it. There may well be casualties, collateral damage beyond the intended target, which was, according to Israelis, a Hezbollah commander who oversaw the killings in Majdal Shams in the occupied Golan Heights at the weekend in which 12 Israeli, sorry, 12 people, children and teenagers were killed on a soccer pitch. That is an absolutely terrible incident. The commander who's responsible for that, that's who the Israelis say
they were targeting in this strike. But look at that heavily populated area, look at the damage that's been inflicted, sort of as a result of those Israeli strikes and Lebanese media is saying that there were three missiles fired into that heavily populated suburb from an Israeli drone that could we other -- other casualties.
As a result, the big question of course is, will this be the start of a broader Israeli operation in southern Lebanon? There have been -- there's been lots of pressure inside Israel but for them to do that, and to try and push the Hezbollah forces in southern Lebanon back to prevent the incessant rocket attacks into the north of the country.
But whether we have reached that point yet, whether this is the start of that, I think remains very much a question. I think much may depend on what the response of Hezbollah will be in the hours ahead.
SCIUTTO: And it's always the gauge, right? How each side responds and which -- which red lines each side proceeds have been broken.
Matthew Chance in London, thanks so much.
Let's go now to the Pentagon where we find Natasha Bertrand.
Natasha, as I understand it, a source tells CNN that Israel did give the U.S. a heads up about this attack, something that it doesn't always do prior to strikes like this. Do we know about exactly how that they really that message and whether the U.S. expressed any opinion either way before this strike occurred?
NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Jim. So a source told our colleague, Jennifer Hansler, that this message was communicated by the Israelis to the United States via security channels, likely military to military communications that were probably at the lower working level rather than principals, but still, you know, this is something that the United States does not necessarily want to see.
They were bracing, of course, for some kind of retaliatory action by Israel because of that horrific strike that the U.S. has pinned on Hezbollah that killed those children in the Golan heights, but still they had been advising Israel to maintain a response that would be very limited.
Now, whether or not that falls into the scope but this latest strike falls into that scope that the U.S. had been recommending to the Israelis remains to be seen. It does appear to have been fairly limited at first glance, it was apparently according to the IDF, a strike just on that building, a targeted assassination attempt but still this is obviously going to raise concerns of a broader conflict breaking out because the question now as Matthew Chance said, is whether Hezbollah is going to respond.
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We still don't know how the U.S. is reacting to this at this point. We still have not gotten any reaction from the White House or the Pentagon. The White House said they're aware, of course, of the strike, but just where it goes from here that still remains unclear, Jim.
SCIUTTO: No question. As always, what happens next? Natasha Bertrand.
Let's go to Lieutenant General Mark Hertling, CNN military analyst, and CNN global affairs analyst Kim Dozier.
Kim, if I could begin with you listen, this is an exact science here, right, as to what is a proportional response and how each side perceives what is proportional. But in the range of Israeli options here, striking in the southern suburbs of Beirut against a senior Hezbollah commander, is that proportionate?
KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: It depends on the collateral damage. It depends on the civilian casualties, and that's still being measured. If this did hit Fu'ad Shukr, who is listed on the State Department rewards for justice program as a senior military adviser to Hezbollah's Hassan Nasrallah and it only hits, say, members of his family, then I think you might see his below respond with maybe a limited series of strikes on several Israeli military targets.
The belief is that Hezbollah did not mean to hit the Druze village. It was aiming for a military target and this was a mistake. So, Israel hitting a military commander, seen by Hezbollah as a controlled tit for tat as opposed to Israel hitting a number of targets.
So if this is one and done by the IDF, I think this might lead to a minor set of skirmishes back and forth. But at the border, not escalating to something larger which is Hezbollah and Iran don't seem to want at this point.
SCIUTTO: General Hertling notable is that Shukr, he played a role in the 1983 marine barracks bombing in Beirut, which killed 241 us military personnel, is going back more than 40 years here. Is it possible Israel factor that into its decision here, given -- given the notice and advance to U.S. officials?
LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: They may have, Jim, but I just tell you straight up and Kim has already said, this guy is on the terrorist watch list with a potential for our $5 million reward of his killing or capture. So yeah, maybe. But what I'd also say he is he's just a bad guy.
Here's the other thing. I mean, you talked about proportional response, having been a military guy providing targeting list to a civilian leader for approval, what you talk about is what is the proportional response? They did this and I've heard the last couple of days that the strike by Hezbollah was an accident or a mistake, hey, it still killed 12 civilians. And the fact of the matter is it still as a result of firing 30 missiles into Israel.
So, you know, if I'm providing as a military guy to my civilian leaders, what could be a proportional response? And I have a pattern of life for Fu'ad Shukr. And I know where he is and where he's going to be. And I can target him with a couple of drones. And it will have an effect on telling Hezbollah we know where you are, and we're coming after you, and it has a secondary effect of telling the Lebanese government, these guys are operating right underneath your noses, so you better take care of them.
I'd say, yeah, it's a pretty good proportional response even though, it struck in a civilian area with limited collateral damage, I'd say that's pretty good.
SCIUTTO: Yeah. I mean, you look at weapons choice here, too, if it was a drone with the kinds of missiles that drones carry smaller munitions then have been used in previous strikes.
For instance, I wonder it is, Kim Dozier's reporting as you see on the screen that the senior Hezbollah commander survived this strike. So if that turns out to be true, didn't hit its target. Does that do we then presume that Israel takes another shot at some point? In other words, there's that this is not over?
DOZIER: Yeah. I think that that's actually coming from Ben Wedeman's team on the ground there talking to the Lebanese government. But, look, if they didn't get him, they're going to have to try again.
But the reason I say that Hezbollah doesn't seem to one and all-out fight is that ever since the strike on the Druze village, there have been reports that Hezbollah has been emptying out its border locations and withdrawing into populated areas like this part of Beirut.
SCIUTTO: Interesting.
DOZIER: So if they didn't get him, they're going to have to try to get someone else and that is unfortunate because this could have been open and shut.
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And now, Israel will feel pressure to respond because elders in that Druze village -- the Druze village was in the Golan, most of the people there have not opted to become Israeli citizens. None of the children killed, as I understand it, were Israeli citizens, but Druze elders have said, oh, are you going to respond because it was us and we're not really Israelis?
So the Netanyahu government is going to feel like it has to make Hezbollah pay in some manner, shape, or form.
SCIUTTO: Yeah. No question. By the way, we should note, hiding among the population, right, which is something that Hezbollah does. And we certainly see Hamas doing that, General Hertling, John Kirby, he said in the last 24 hours that the talk, the risk of a broader war emerging from this is exaggerated. And I'd heard the same from the White House that they do not see it likely that this tit for tat series of strikes balloons into a broader regional war.
I mean, do you agree with that assessment or is that too sanguine? HERTLING: I agree, but again, Jim, it depends on what happens next.
What we saw was the missile strike of the 30 missiles that kill children. That is the action.
This attempt at an assassination of a terrorist leader is the reaction. Now, it's time for the counteract into the reaction. That's how these cycles go. So what is going to happen next?
Well, will Lebanon and Hezbollah stand down? Will Iran tell Hezbollah to stand down? Will Israel say, okay, we've sent the message and it's going to be applied and will that cause a reduction and a constraint and further action?
But truthfully, there are so many other factors that go into this. You know, Israel has been fighting now in a very intense fight in Gaza for the last nine months and they've mobilized close to 300-plus thousand of their forces, which is taking away from businesses and they'd been in the field the reservist have not been going formal private sector job.
So Israel is fatigued at this point. Are they willing to open a second front into Lebanon in a higher kinetic and conventional fight that would involve an incursion by ground forces or a major air operation? I'm not sure Israel is ready for that either.
So all of these things help determine what is next and I think, yeah, the message has been sent and the fact it's interesting to me, you know, the reporting that Lebanon is saying that Shukr wasn't killed tells me they know where he is or that he's still alive. That just reinforces my point of there's got to be a disconnect between the Lebanese government and the Hezbollah terrorist organization.
SCIUTTO: Yeah, Kim, on the other side of that question about Israeli military action in southern Lebanon is public support inside Israel for doing something about the Hezbollah problem. When I was in northern Israel after October 7, you would often hear Israelis say they got to finish the job in southern Lebanon after they finish the job in Gaza, speaking about the Israeli military, you still have many tens of thousands of Israelis who can't live in their homes in northern Israel because of the threat from Hezbollah fire.
How does Israel balance those two pressures to General Hertling's point about an exhausted country and the economic costs and on the other side, a country that feels they can't live on their northern border?
DOZIER: You have the right wing of Netanyahu's government pushing for a war with Lebanon. You have IDF officials, Israeli defense force officials quietly warning we don't have the troops for that. That's why the IDF has been welcoming a recent Israeli court decision that Israeli religious students now have to be drafted into the military because basically they've got exhausted troops and they had to let a number of their reservists go back to work.
So it's a manpower problem. Just like Mark was saying, also, to finish the job with Hezbollah means to take on much better armed military force, than Hamas inside Gaza. They have more than 150,000 missiles and other projectiles that can reach much of Israel and they also have better training.
So when you have that kind of adversary, you can't just sort tack on the fight against Hezbollah while you're still fighting the war in Gaza. And. of course, Hezbollah has said if the war in Gaza stops, they'll stop too. I think that is what most Israelis would like to see happen.
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SCIUTTO: Lieutenant General Mark Hertling --
(CROSSTALK)
SCIUTTO: Sorry, before we go, quick thought.
HERTLING: If I can add because that is such an excellent point by Kim in terms of the state of Hezbollah versus Hamas and I add to that, they also have room to maneuver. There's no place for Hamas to go other than the stay underground. Hezbollah can, you know, infiltrate among the people in a very large country with a civilian population that is somewhat but supportive of them. So that, that plays a huge role in what Israel can and can't do.
SCIUTTO: Listen, and Hezbollah is a political force in Lebanon, right? It provides social services, health care, its actually, I mean, it's very embedded in the society.
General Hertling, Kim Dozier, thanks so much.
If you are just joining us, the news from Beirut, the latest is a source telling CNN that a high level Hezbollah commander targeted by an Israeli strike in southern Beirut has survived that strike. We continue to cover the consequences from there.
Still ahead, Vice President Harris is heading to Georgia as her campaign for president ramps up.
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SCIUTTO: Welcome back.
Today on the presidential campaign trail, two critical swing states in the spotlight, Trump's vice presidential pick J.D. Vance is in Nevada, a state Republicans hope to flip from blue to red in November. Vance's rally comes as he is under intense scrutiny for comments, calling some voters on the left, childless cat ladies, that's a quote.
That remarks CNN learns was not a one-off. Instead, part of a long history of the Ohio senator making disparaging remarks towards people who happen not to have kids.
And while Vance is in Nevada, Kamala Harris is making a big play for another swing state, the state of Georgia. In just a few hours, the vice president holds her first rally in the state since the switch up at the top of the Democratic ticket. She does so along a special musical guest, rapper Megan Thee Stallion.
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That's pretty cool.
This is a state that many Democrats worried was out of reach with Biden at the top of the ticket. Now the Harris campaign says they are, quote, feeling the energy to win. That win would certainly go through Black communities.
To discuss her appeal in Georgia, I'm joined by Maya King, a political reporter who covers the south for "The New York Times" and Democratic strategist Antjuan Seawright.
It's good to have you both on.
Maya, I wonder if I could begin with you. That the Biden campaign was acknowledging in its final days before this switch at the top that it likely lost the Sun Belt states of Georgia and Arizona. They couldn't compete there. They were focusing on the blue wall through the Midwest.
Harris now believes the Sun Belt is flip back in play and is that where the data -- is that where your reporting leads you as well?
MAYA KING, POLITICS REPORTER, THE NEW YORK TIMES: Well, on the ground and talking to organizers and party leaders, they certainly do agree with the vice president. They feel like particularly in Metro Atlanta, which is home to a lot of young voters, a lot of Black voters and Black organizing groups that they have a much better shot of action really running up the numbers, increasing turnout and yes, putting the state back in play for Democrats.
Now it still is a very competitive race with Republicans who are just as fired up and eager to turn out. But they feel like with the ground game they have and the number of field offices they've opened, the infrastructure, they've built, they can build on that in the next 98 days or so.
SCIUTTO: Antjuan, when Harris win in the primaries back in 2019, Black voters did not really flocked to her in numbers, that they've been upstanding with Biden. She polled mostly in the single digits.
Has that changed in your view and does it change naturally with her at the top of the ticket?
ANTJUAN SEAWRIGHT, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Oh, everything changes. What we've seen so far with the Kamala-mentum, we're experiencing injected into the ecosystem as she's been to fresh lungs of breath air for the Democratic Party, and I think for the country.
She's a unifier. She's a match stressor. We've seen the base calcified in ways that we've never seen before from the generational standpoint. And with her being in once in a generational candidate, what she's been able to do is allow folks to organize organically in ways that we've never experienced before in this country, even compared to Barack Obama's interest into the political ecosystem in 2008.
She certainly -- we've seen the impact of her candidacy from $200 million plus raised organized organically with Black men, Black women and other constituencies, Jim, politics is about -- I think is a game of addition and multiplication, not subtraction and division, which they're experiencing on the other side. We're seeing Kamala Harris add and add to the Democratic ecosystem, but also it's a game of coalitions and constituencies.
And what we're seeing her candidacy do for the Democrats is allowed the political unhoused or the political homeless to come home and found comfort in the Democratic Party.
SCIUTTO: Speaking of addition, rather than subtraction, Maya, the Trump campaign has long said that they hope to target Black men in particular. That's not new. But what is new is they say they're going to try to target them by spotlighting Harris's tough record on crime as a prosecutor. And that's notable given that -- I mean, let's be frank, Republicans, by and large like to say they are tough on crime.
So I wonder if that is a winning strategy, is that a strategy that the Black men voters will buy?
KING: Well, it could be, but I think that Republicans do get in their own way, at least at this moment and how they have also characterized Harris in terms of her race and her gender.
So over the last week, we've also heard a number of Republicans call her a DEI hire or a diversity president, sort of discounting her credentials and Black voters are paying attention to that and sort of pushing back against it. So there certainly are some policies I think that Republicans have pushed that will appeal to Black men. And I think there is a segment of Black men who are very interested in voting for Republicans and supporting Donald Trump.
But they will be cutting into their own gains, the Republicans, if they continue to vilify the vice president, again in terms of demographics and not concrete policy goals.
SCIUTTO: Antjuan, Harris is now walking back some of the policy proposals she had in the Democratic primary four years ago, and listen, some of this is natural. You're running in a primary, you want to appeal to your base, to the left-wing.
Now she's running in a general. She wants to walk back, some of them things like universal health care, one also opposition to fracking. And, of course, this is part of the Republican campaign here, right, is to brand her as a radical liberal.
So how does he do that? How does she credibly make those changes?
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SEAWRIGHT: Well, I think, first and foremost, you must own her record as vice president of the United States, particularly when it comes to African-American voters and communities of color, particularly whether its $16 billion in historical Black colleges and universities, whether it's overseeing more Black women to our nation's highest courts than all other presidents combined including an African American woman on the Supreme Court, whether its $100 billion to help rescue small Black and Brown businesses during the pandemic.
Where this, when Republicans blocked things like the George Floyd and Policing Act, she was -- she and President Biden together by a way of executive order were able to implement most of those things cut in blacked-out prescription drugs, capital price.
I thank she had to show up with her records and she should be very proud of the record. She and President Biden have had together.
But where Republicans may try to brand her in whatever they tried for this extremist, racist, whatever the case may, I think she has to allow up to evolve and remind people, she's evolved on those issues, but also makes certain as she holds the other side accountable Donald Trump, J.D. Vance, Trumpism as well as Project 2025, which we know is a right-wing blueprint for extremism, power and control in this country.
SCIUTTO: Maya King, up until last week, Republicans were, they were feeling very bullish and that seemed to factor into Trump's decision to pick J.D. Vance as his vice presidential pick. And now you have J.D. Vance in a bit of a political pickle understandably so, so dismissing large portions of the Democratic base as childless cat ladies, is there any, and by the way, as our KFILE discovered, that is not an isolated comment from him in recent years.
Is there any genuine consideration to your knowledge of Trump going another way, dumping J.D. Vance and going for a different vice presidential pick?
KING: Well, no, I haven't heard anything yet of the president considering dumping the current Republican vice presidential nominee.
But, you know, you can listen to what the former president says in public. Right now, he has been very complimentary of J.D. Vance. I think he's waiting for him to sort of get his sea legs on the campaign trail. The former president and the vice presidential nominee, Trump and Vance, will be here in Atlanta on Saturday, at the same venue that the current vice president is having her rally at this evening.
I think this will be a chance to see a matchup between both of the tickets and possibly a chance for them to talk to a new group of voters. I mean, it'll give Vance and other chance to at least get a little bit more comfortable on stage and take some positions that are more popular with a broader swath of voters.
SCIUTTO: Maya King, Antjuan Seawright, thanks so much to both of you.
All right. To -- to the Olympics now, it's always one to watch. They went for the gold and they got the gold. USA women's gymnastics team led, of course, by Simone Biles came out on top in the all-round team final, just an hour ago, it was fun to watch. Now eighth time Olympic medalist, Simone Biles, is officially cemented
her place as the GOAT, America's most decorated gymnast. Biles gave a stellar performance after fighting through an ankle injury during the qualifying round. It's an incredible comeback from the Tokyo Games where she experienced a mental block known in gymnastics as the twisties that then forced her to withdraw during the team final.
CNN's Coy Wire has been following the competition.
Coy, I mean, this is -- this is great to watch. There's excitement. There was some nervous moments. Stumble here and there early on but, boy, they came out ahead.
COY WIRE, CNN WORLD SPORT: Yeah, Jim. And gold has been won, but they are not done. It was a packed electric atmosphere, super charged with fans and celebs from around the globe to see the U.S. women's gymnastics team and Simone Biles capture that gold in the team competition that levels up the silver they won in Tokyo, Jim
Now, Simone Biles, Suni Lee, Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey, and Hezly Rivera, they dominated the field, Jim, scoring nearly six points ahead of Italy, who took the silver and Brazil who took bronze.
Now, as you mentioned, Biles, that eighth Olympic medal surpassing Shannon Miller to become the most decorated American gymnast of all time. And at 27, Jim, she is now the oldest American woman ever to win gymnastics goal, 5-years-old than the previous record.
Now, all focus is going to turn to those individual finals beginning Thursday.
Biles and Lee, they qualified to compete for gold in all around. It's the first time two Olympic all-around champs are going to be competing for another all-around title. Lee also qualified in beam and bars, Chiles on floor, Carey on the vault.
And, Jim, as you mentioned, the GOAT, greatest of all time, Simone, she qualified for vault, beam and floor.
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That gives her a chance for four more medals, including that all around here at these Olympic Games in Paris.
It is unbelievable, when you see it on TV, as incredible as it is, Jim, it just does not do any justice when you see that human, I think she's human, flying and flip it through the air, it is absolutely unreal, what Simone Biles can do.
SCIUTTO: Listen and she -- I mean, she took a risk at the Tokyo Olympics, to step out, focus on her mental health. As you know, she took a lot of flack for it, for doing at the time. She's come back and she's returned to the top level.
I wonder what else you're -- you've been watching today. I mean, a lot of us heroics and the pool as well. WIRE: Yeah, absolutely. We had more American swimming in the pool today. Katie Ledecky qualifying in that 1,500 meter freestyle, the event in which, Jim, she is the current world and Olympic record holder.
I talk to her after the swim. She said she felt good, almost like she's -- yeah, it was feeling that out a bit. As she said, her body felt good. She's going to go eat, sleep, rest, wake up, do a loop loosen up, swim in the morning tomorrow, and get ready for tomorrow night, and hopefully at another gold to her illustrious career.
Also, we're keeping an eye on Jim, of course, the river Seine, the competition today for that men's triathlon. The triathlon was canceled. They say they're going to hope to try to pull it off tomorrow and that's another big story line coming out of these games with all that random pummeled the city and flush the Seine with things that athletes don't want to be swimming in and it's not safe for them to do so.
SCIUTTO: Yeah.
WIRE: That's another big thing we're keeping our eye on.
SCIUTTO: Well, of course, it doesn't work out if you could get out to the Senate and do some cleanup yourself and make sure those triathletes get their chance, got the chance to swim this swimming event and there's no backup.
WIRE: I brought my Speedo just for that, Jim, and I'll let you know.
(LAUGHTER)
SCIUTTO: Coy Wire, standing in the middle of the most beautiful city in the world, thanks so much.
Coming up next, more on the breaking news we've been following this hour live in Beirut, where the Israeli military just retaliated for a deadly weekend attack by launching missiles inside the suburbs of the Lebanese capital.
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SCIUTTO: Recapping our top story, the Israeli military is claiming responsibility now for an attack in the southern suburbs of Beirut. It says the attack targeted the commander which it alleges is behind an attack in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights that killed 12 children on a soccer field earlier this weekend.
CNN's Ben Wedeman is live from Beirut.
And, Ben, it's the perennial question, is this the kind of spark that lights a broader fire. What have been the reactions so far?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the reaction, for instance, Hezbollah has been fairly quiet since this incident happened just over -- just less than three hours ago. But certainly, the worry is that this could indeed be the spark for --
SCIUTTO: It looks like we lost our Ben Wedeman there from Beirut. We will attempt to get them back.
Our Alexander Marquardt is here as well.
And, Alex, I know you've been following this from Washington.
Leading up to this, U.S. officials, including John Kirby, had been saying, they think the risks of a broader war arising out of this latest tit for tat of strikes were exaggerated. I wonder if U.S. officials still have that much confidence following this Israeli strike.
ALEXANDER MARQUARDT, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: It does seem that way, Jim and I think it's an interesting tone for them to strike because throughout the course of this war, they've been saying that there is a significant possibility for escalation, not just with Hezbollah in Lebanon, but with the Houthis in Yemen and with other proxies and Iran on Syria, and, of course, Iran itself.
We did hear from Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary in the moment following this strike. This now we know it's a failed strike against Fu'ad Shukr.
She said that it's not inevitable. It's not necessarily going to lead to a broader conflict. And that is sort of reflecting what we'd been hearing from those U.S. officials in the lead-up to this. And I think that is because that confidence comes from the fact that they had been told by the Israelis that, yes, we are going to respond for this strike in the Golan Heights, but we are going to do so in a rather limited way.
That was also the message we were told from the Lebanese foreign minister who said that they had gotten assurances that it would be rather limited in scope. So what we saw today in the southern suburbs of Beirut, a very targeted assassination attempt. Is that it? Will they continue?
That remains to be seen. But there does seem to be some confidence here in Washington that thing aren't going to spiral out-of-control, at least for the time being, Jim.
SCIUTTO: Well, let's hope -- let's hope it stays that way, right? As you -- as you well know, having reported from that region for years, it's always seems like were close to something bigger.
Alexander Marquardt, thanks so much.
To Haiti now where a CNN interview with interim Prime Minister Garry Conille ended with gunshots.
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SCIUTTO: Good Lord.
The prime ministers security team provided cover for him and our CNN crew in the midst of that gunfire. Thankfully, no one was injured. The shootout happened at Port-au-Prince hospital, one that was destroyed by gangs where CNN's Larry Madowo interviewed the prime minister.
Here is Larry with more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That dramatic afternoon highlighting the security challenges, the gang violence problem here in Port-au- Prince, the Haitian capital, we were speaking to interim Prime Minister Garry Conille when we heard shots in the air.
A short while after that, his security detail motion for him to stop and they motioned him back into his car and we sped out of there. We kept hearing shots throughout that time.
We now know about having the seen video and eyewitness account, Haitian police and Kenyan police were firing. They said to provide cover as the Haitian prime ministers convoy sped out of there.
One eyewitness telling CNN that they saw gang members exchanging fire with the police in that moment, the prime minister was safely escorted back to his residence and there were no casualties, no injuries on the Haitian side or on the Kenyan side.
In the moment this happened, and this is extraordinary it was probably the most protected place in Port-au-Prince with the prime minister and two ministers, the head of the Asian national police there and the Kenyan head of the multinational security support force.
I had asked the prime minister how he feels about the security challenges here. And if he fears for his own life.
Do you fear for your life doing this job?
GARRY CONILLE, HAITI'S INTERIM PRIME MINISTER: We don't give it much thought.
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And it's not just me. I mean, we've been able to put together an incredible group of men and women that have left their jobs and their careers to be able to commit to this. And to be honest, it's rarely part of our thought.
Now, I am privileged. I have a whole bunch of men and women that tried to make sure that nothing happens.
MADOWO: The fact that he took us to this university hospital has been vandalized and destroyed by gangs. He took us there because the Kenya and Haitians that recently reclaimed it, and the Haitian prime ministers desires to reopen it, so that Haitians can have medical care, which is in short supply, right now. But as he was making that appeal to the international community, it
appears the gang leaders made a direct target of this same facility that he hopes to reopen. And that really highlights the challenges the gang violence problem, or the hearts of the Haitian capital.
Larry Madowo, CNN, Port-au-Prince.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCIUTTO: We're organic glad Larry and his team are safe there, shows the dangers in Haiti today. Quote, what I saw made me ashamed.
Up next, what we heard from the acting Secret Service director who testified before Congress today about the many security failures leading up to the assassination attempt of Donald Trump.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCIUTTO: On Capitol Hill, the acting director of the Secret Service testified earlier today about the security breakdown in Butler, Pennsylvania, that led up to Thomas Matthew Crooks climbing onto a roof armed and shooting multiple times, eight times, in fact, at former President Donald Trump.
Ronald Rowe, who took over committee after Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned last week, called the assassination attempt, quote, a failure on multiple levels.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RONALD ROWE JR., ACTING SECRET SERVICE DIRECTOR: I think this was a failure of imagination, a failure to imagine that we actually do live in a very dangerous world where people do actually want to do harm to our protectees. We didn't challenge our own assumptions of we assume that someone's going to cover that.
[15:45:00]
We assume that there's going to be uniform presence. We didn't challenge that internally during that advance.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: Failure than an imagination similar language they used in the wake of 9/11.
CNN's Whitney Wild, she has been covering this for us and Whitney, listening to this hearing, anybody listened to it, would have to be somewhat amazed at the number of misses here throughout.
I wonder as we heard from the acting director, did you learn of new lapses leading up to this?
WHITNEY WILD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think the big questions are -- were about the communication failures and what we now know is that the Secret Service detail -- the Secret Service, you know, more broadly, including the counter-snipers did not know that that -- that Thomas Crooks had a gun. Basically, what our understanding is based on what came out of this hearing today, is that about 30 seconds before the gunfire erupted, local law enforcement knew he had a gun, that information never made it to the Secret Service, didn't make it to the counter-snipers, didn't make it to the detail.
That is a massive communications failure. Jim, what's supposed to happen is law enforcement supposed to get on the radio, that information is supposed to go to the command center. They're supposed to be Secret Service liaisons inside that command center. Those people are supposed to be talking because, you know, what is common here and certainly was the case at the rally is all the law enforcement is not on the same radio. The Secret Service is not on the same radio as the local law enforcement.
So that's why you have this command center and people are supposed to be talking that information is supposed to go out to the details. It didn't happen. An Acting Director Ron Rowe say, you know, that is the major failure and that's something that they need to dig into as well.
The other thing that we learned, Jim, is that they were offered drone support by local law enforcement and they turned the offer down. CNN has previously reported the Secret Service did not use drones at this rally. Again, what we learned today is they were offered drone support by local law enforcement and for some reason and the acting director didn't know why they turned that down.
The other major breakdown that we heard about today was so he's detailed human failures, but the other major breakdown was technological. And what we learned today was that the Secret Service does have, you know, basically technology to defeat drones. And it just count based basically called a CUAS. It's a counter UAS, an unmanned aerial system. And so -- the counter unmanned aerial system.
And what that process is supposed to do is to detect and defeat drones. That system wasn't working. They couldn't get it up and running because there wasn't enough bandwidth.
So when Thomas Crooks, the shooter put up a drone at 3:50 the day of the rally, 3:50 p.m., the counter, the Secret Service counter UAS system wasn't working. If it had been working, it might have detected that drone and defeated that drone. And Ron Rowe said that is really one of the points of failure here that has caused him to lose sleep because he said, I just wonder if that had and working, would -- would we have we have stopped him when he have said law enforcement saw my drone. This isn't going to happen and moved on.
SCIUTTO: Yeah.
WILD: And then finally, Jim, there's a big question about the roof and so he faced many questions about why there wasn't an agent on the roof for law enforcement on the roof. Here's how that conversation went.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROWE: I think he was identified as being suspicious by local law enforcement.
SEN. DICK DURBIN (D-IL): And nothing happened?
ROWE: Well, I know that local law enforcement was attempting to locate him.
SEN. RAND PAUL (R-KY): Would you say the roofing unattended, breaches standard protocol for setting up a security perimeter?
ROWE: What I would say, Senator, is that that roof should have had better coverage and we will get to the bottom of if there were any policy violations.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WILD: Jim, another thing that we learned today, they're really rankled some of the senators was that nobody has been placed on leave or, or lost their job because of this. That's really upsetting some of the senators today.
SCIUTTO: Yeah. I mean, amazing that the shooter got his drone in the air, but the Secret Service did not have his own drones in the air. I mean, that's remarkable.
I wonder in terms of identifying the gunman prior, did it factor it all in the decision-making that Pennsylvania is an open carry state? I mean, would there be less reaction because of that potentially?
WILD: It's not clear how long law enforcement knew he had the firearm. I mean, our understanding is that basically by the time they knew he had a firearm, he was already up on the roof at that point -- I mean, they already knew that he was suspicious person, so presumably by the time they saw the gun, they knew something was awry.
You know, it is a problem more generally though, when you're in these open carry states. I mean, the reality is people can carry a firearm up to the mag in a lot of places. And so, you know, how they were perceiving that information and making those analytical decisions, you know, it's a -- it's a question that we continue to ask. But in that moment, I mean, it was very clear that law enforcement knew he was suspicious because he had rangefinder and that was really the thing that may law enforcement think this is abnormal and then they saw him up on the roof and then they saw the firearm and then seconds later, gunfire erupted.
SCIUTTO: Yeah. So often the case, cascade of failures, right? Not a single failure.
[15:50:00]
Whitney Wild, thanks so much.
WILD: Right, right.
After the break, from public enemy to women's water polo. Superfan, how Flavor Flav became the U.S. women's team hype man. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WILD: The U.S. women's water polo team is building a huge fan base in Paris, due in part to their hype man, the rapper Flavor Flav.
He's made it his mission to draw attention to the sport as the U.S. women go for a fourth consecutive gold medal.
CNN's Coy Wire caught up with the rap star.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FLAVOR FLAV, RAPPER: Always dreamed about coming to the Olympics one day, because the only time I've ever seen the Olympics was on TV.
But now, I get to actually be here and experience it.
WIRE: It's incredible. And you went from being public enemy number one to number one friend and hype man for Team USA water polo. Tell me that story. How did all come about?
FLAVOR FLAV: Well, it all started by Maggie Steffens putting out the story, you know what I'm saying? And my manager she has a head in everything, so she bought the story to me. And she said, Flav, tell me what you think.
So I read the story and everything. You know what I'm saying? And I'm like, you know what? I love to help -- help these girls out and sponsor these girls, you know what I'm saying? So I'm glad that day took my offer for sponsorship.
WIRE: And what are some of the ways you'd been able to help support them?
FLAVOR FLAV: Well, first of all, first of all, I've been here cheering them all like crazy. You know what I'm saying? I mean, everybody know that I'm the original hype man.
WIRE: No doubt.
FLAVOR FLAV: You know what I'm saying? Ad these girls man, they got -- you know, they got three back-to-back gold medals right now. And I would love to cheer them on, you know, to get that fourth one, you know?
WIRE: Yeah.
FLAVOR FLAV: But I mean, my thing is this, you know, these girls when -- when they're not in the water, their home live in actual working lives, you know, I'm saying, one, two and three jobs.
And they're out here busting their butts to make United States look good.
WIRE: Yes.
FLAVOR FLAV: You know what I'm saying. So, I said why not help get these girls a boost?
WIRE: All right. Something else you got to see out here on the rooftop of our WBD house. Look over here. We have a bar. We get to watch all the games.
So why not do that while we finish our chat.
(FLAVOR FLAV RAPPING)
FLAVOR FLAV: I'm sorry, but I'm starstruck, man.
WIRE: Man, I'm going to make that my ringtone.
FLAVOR FLAV: I got a chance, Coy, to jump in the water and see what it's like to play this game.
WIRE: What was it like?
[15:55:00]
FLAVOR FLAV: Man, first of all, it takes a lot of strength. It takes a lot of endurance, and when I jumped in the water with these girls, I was in there for full, honestly, full seven minutes.
WIRE: How do you feel?
FLAVOR FLAV: But listen, that was like the hardest seven minutes ever in the water in my life.
And then they gave me the ball to see what it's like, you know?
WIRE: Oh, I saw the highlight.
You scored, Flav.
FLAVOR FLAV: Yeah, I scored. Hey, not once --
WIRE: Two times.
I know you rep Team USA to fullest, which you think about this? Team Flavor Flav, where, you know --
FLAVOR FLAV: Wow.
WIRE: Is that a yeah boy right there?
FLAVOR FLAV: Yeah boy.
You know what? I bought a lot, but --
WIRE: Oh, there we go.
FLAVOR: It fits.
WIRE: Let's go. Let's go.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCIUTTO: He's having a ball there and I'm sure the team is happy to have him back in.
Thanks so much to Coy Wire for that report.
We're going to end on this. Just an incredible image from the Paris Olympics, this one from the competition happening actually across the world in the middle of the Pacific in Tahiti. This is Brazilian surfer Gabriel Medina striking a pose after a record surf. He scored a near- perfect 9.9 of 10 on day three of the surfing competition, highest scoring wave in Olympic history then he launched from his board raised his finger.
French photographer Jerome Brouillet snapped this iconic photo. He was waiting for it, ready for it. Man, it's -- that's pretty special. Imagine being able to do that.
Well, thanks so much for joining me today. I'm Jim Sciutto in Washington.
"QUEST MEANS BUSINESS" is up next.
