Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Harris, Trump Begin Friday's Campaign Blitz Less than 90 Days Before the U.S. Elections; Ukrainian Swimmers Overcome the Shadows of War to Compete for the Olympics; New Footage of Police Officers Seized Gunman Who Attempted to Assassinate Donald Trump was Released; Noah Lyles Settled for Bronze in the Women's 200 Meter Event as She is Tested Positive for COVID; Two Giant Pandas from China Debuted for the First Time at the San Diego Zoo. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired August 09, 2024 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[03:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MAX FOSTER, CNN LONDON CORRESPONDENT AND ANCHOR: Welcome to all our viewers watching in the U.S. and all around the world. I'm Max Foster, in London.
Ahead on "CNN Newsroom," hitting the trail. Both U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Trump will be making their pitches to voters today. Fewer than 90 days remain until the presidential election.
Key players are making a renewed push for ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas as the region braces for possible retaliation against Israel.
And police are cracking down on peaceful anti-government protests in Kenya. We'll have a report from Nairobi.
UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from London, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Max Foster.
FOSTER: With less than three months to go before Election Day, the U.S. presidential nominees will both hit the campaign trail today. Kamala Harris and her new running mate, Tim Walz, will hold a rally in Phoenix, Arizona, as they continue their week-long tear through the battleground states.
On Thursday, the two spoke in Michigan, where they rallied union workers, whilst trying to draw contrasts on labor with their Republican opponents. Harris has secured support from union leaders, but workers are still weighing their options.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS (D), U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Isn't that what we're talking about in this here election? We're saying we just want fairness. We want dignity for all people. We want to recognize the right all people have to freedom and liberty, to make choices, especially those that are about heart and home, and not have their government telling them what to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Meanwhile, Donald Trump is set to hold a campaign rally in Montana later today, after going days, really, without a public campaign event. During a news conference in Florida on Thursday, the Republican nominee was asked by CNN's Kristen Holmes about his recent absence from the campaign trail. Listen to their exchange.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You have not had a public campaign event for nearly a week now. Toronto being Montana, which is not a swing state. Some of your allies have expressed concern that you're not taking this very seriously, particularly at a time when there is enthusiasm on the other side. Why haven't you been campaigning this week?
DONALD TRUMP (R), U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Because I'm leading by a lot, and because I'm letting their convention go through, and I think it's a good thing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: But the latest CNN poll of polls shows Harris and Trump locked in a tight race. No clear leader. They're tied at 49 percent in a head-to-head matchup. That's an average of six of the most recent national polls looking at registered or likely voters in the upcoming presidential election. They're all taken after Joe Biden announced his decision to drop out of the race.
Now we have reporters covering both campaigns. CNN's Kristen Holmes has more from Trump's Florida news conference. But first, let's go to Arlette Saenz in Michigan for the latest on the Democratic contenders and the on-off-again presidential debate that's apparently back on.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Vice President Kamala Harris sought to rally union workers as she's looking to build up support among rank-and-file union members heading into November's election. Harris capped off a two-day swing through Detroit with a stop at a local UAW union hall, talking about how she is supportive of collective bargaining and wants to see fairness for workers in their contracts with major companies.
It all comes as Harris is trying to draw a major contrast with Trump when it pertains to labor issues. Her new running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, also spoke very bluntly about the contrast between the Harris campaign and Trump. Take a listen.
GOV. TIM WALZ (D-MN), U.S. VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We know, we know that unions built the middle class. The rest of America has to. You know who doesn't believe that? Donald Trump. This guy doesn't know the first thing about unity or service. He's too busy serving himself. Again and again and again, you've seen it, he put himself above us. He weakened our country to strengthen his own hand.
SAENZ: Now Harris' campaign has earned the backing of UAW leadership, but now she is facing the task of trying to earn the support of those rank-and-file members.
Former President Donald Trump is also seeking to make his own appeals to working class and rank-and-file union members heading into the November election. The Harris campaign has said they plan on spending hundreds of millions of dollars across battleground states to directly appeal to union workers.
[03:05:00]
Those type of workers will be key in a battleground state like Michigan, but also in other blue wall states like Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, as Harris is trying to replicate Biden's victory in those three states in this November election. Now, Harris, while she was on the ground in Detroit, also talked about the commitments she's making relating to presidential debates against Donald Trump.
Harris told reporters that she is committed and looks forward to seeing Trump at an ABC debate on September 10th. But then she added that she's happy to talk about other debates that could take place after that period. And it comes after Trump himself has said that he's committing to three debates, one on Fox News, another on ABC and one on NBC.
Harris has yet to commit to those two other debates aside from ABC News, but she has said she's looking forward to debating Trump and laying out the contrast in their record and vision for the country heading into November's election.
Arlette Saenz, CNN, Detroit.
HOLMES: Former President Donald Trump gave a very wide-ranging press conference on Thursday, speaking for more than an hour, calling Kamala Harris his now-rival, barely competent, calling her names, attacking Tim Walz, her now-running mate on the Democratic ticket. But he spent a lot of the time really doubling down on this new narrative that we've heard from the Republican Party.
And that was part of why they did this press conference that Kamala Harris will not sit down for an interview, that she will not take questions from the press. Here's what he said about this.
TRUMP: She's not doing any news conference. You know why she's not doing it? Because she can't do a news conference. She doesn't know how to do a news conference. She's not smart enough to do a news conference.
HOLMES: And when I talked to campaign officials, they did want a split screen of the fact that Harris has not sat down with reporters, has not answered any of those questions. But there was also some news made out of this press conference, the fact that Donald Trump agreed to three debates with Kamala Harris, one of them being the debate that he had agreed to with President Joe Biden on ABC on September 10th. Of course, he had agreed to that, then reneged. Now he is saying he will, in fact, do that debate.
Harris has not answered about the other two debates that were also proposed by Donald Trump for September. The other thing that was asked of him, partly by me, partly by other reporters, was why he wasn't campaigning more, why his campaign doesn't seem to have changed.
And he said that he didn't need to campaign, that he was leading by so much. But if you talk to his senior officials and advisers, they know that's not the case. They know that there's been a change in this ticket and in this race, given the enthusiasm we now see around Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, the enthusiasm that is there that wasn't there for President Joe Biden. But clearly, Donald Trump getting under his skin, what he is seeing on the other side here with Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, part of that being the crowd size.
He said there wasn't that much enthusiasm on that side when he was asked about the fact that there was all -- there was more bigger events for Harris than we had seen for Joe Biden. He instead lashed out at the media, saying the media inflated her numbers and downplayed his numbers.
The one thing is clear, he was out there, he was talking to reporters and he is definitely on the offensive right now as we are heading closer and closer to November.
Kristen Holmes, CNN, West Palm Beach, Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Well, we're going to go to the Middle East now, where the U.S., Qatar and Egypt are leading a new push for negotiations between Israel and Hamas.
They released a statement saying, in part, there's no further time to waste nor excuses from any party for further delay. It's time to release the hostages, begin the ceasefire and implement this agreement. Israel says it will send a negotiating team to Cairo or Doha next week. Hamas has yet to respond. The entire region is on edge, bracing for possible Iranian or Hezbollah retaliation against Israel after the recent assassinations of senior Hezbollah and Hamas leaders.
Elliott joins us from here in London. I mean, all of these intermediaries, of course, are pushing for a ceasefire. But the question is how much impetus there is coming from Hamas and Israel.
ELLIOTT GOTKINE, JOURNALIST: Max, look, the pressure on Israel and Hamas to do a deal is probably greater than it's ever been in the past nine months since the last and only ceasefire came into effect back in October.
And so here we have this unusual joint statement from the Biden administration, from President Biden, from the president of Egypt and the emir of Qatar calling on both sides to accept this ceasefire- hostage deal, in their words, to bring immediate relief to the long suffering people of Gaza, as well as the long suffering hostages and their families.
And we also hear from a senior administration official telling CNN that it is time that they that the president Biden's position is that it's time to close this and that although there are still gaps between Israel and Hamas, the senior administration official saying that the bulk of the work has been done and that the deal really is there.
Now, as you say, Israel is going to be sending a delegation. What seems Cairo is likely to be the location of that. Israel is sending delegation. We've yet to hear from Hamas.
[03:09:59]
And, you know, we've seen reports all over the Israeli press talking about how Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been holding up talks and even being criticized and having blazing rows with his senior security officials.
But, of course, the other slight wrinkle here is that since the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Hamas's political bureau in Tehran, Yahya Sinwar, the architect of the October the 7th terrorist attacks, is now in charge of that element of Hamas, as well as being the military leader. He's much closer to Iran. He's seen as much more of a hardliner with more maximalist positions.
And that in itself could also, you know, put a drag on the prospects of this ceasefire-hostage deal getting over the line, as it has not gotten over the line over the past few months when hopes have risen that we are getting close and it just hasn't come about, Max.
FOSTER: In terms of this retaliation by Iran and or Hezbollah, is there any more intelligence on that?
GOTKINE: Look, we're definitely seeing an escalation in the rhetoric. We talked just yesterday, didn't we, about Hassan Nasrallah, the head of Hezbollah, saying that keeping Israel waiting was part of the punishment. He also tweeted out in Hebrew, actually, just saying maybe tonight, maybe tomorrow, maybe in a week, prompting some gallows humor from Israelis saying that that's what they say when they're going to go on a diet or what the cable guy says to them. But obviously, this is a very serious issue.
And, you know, the region in Israel in particular is on edge. We've got kind of some kind of mixed messages. The Iranian president in a conversation with President Macron of France saying that if the West wants to prevent war, then it should put pressure to get this ceasefire into effect.
But at the same time, you have Iran's mission to the United Nations saying that Israel is going to be punished. And I think Iran has certainly boxed itself almost into a corner in terms of the rhetoric that's been coming out. And it does feel obliged to retaliate in some capacity. But of course,
the big question is, what will that retaliation be? Where will it come from? And will it lead to further escalation from Israel in retaliation for that? Or will it kind of allow the two sides to kind of leave this for now?
But meanwhile, the simmering war between Israel and Iran's main proxy, Hezbollah, continues. Sirens were just sounding the last 15, 20 minutes before I came on air, Max. And so there is still the risk that that that could escalate as well, even if the Iranian retaliation, when it comes, doesn't lead to all-out war.
FOSTER: Elliott, thank you.
My next guest is the author of "What Really Went Wrong: The West and the Failure of Democracy in the Middle East." He's also a professor of international relations at the London School of Economics. Very pleased to have Fawaz Gerges with us today. Thank you so much. I mean, the title of your book sort of speaks to this, doesn't it? You know, the failure of the West in the Middle East. They're not getting anywhere near a final peace deal. And it continues.
FAWAZ GERGES, PROF. OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS: Absolutely. I mean, I think the overarching lesson is that American diplomacy has failed. American diplomacy in the Middle East has failed to basically bring about the end of the war in Gaza. It has failed almost now to prevent a wider regional conflict.
I mean, think about it, Max. In the past 10 months, the Americans have been saying they would like a ceasefire in Gaza, they would like the Israeli hostages to go home, and they want to prevent an escalation that could really trigger all-out war.
Now that the war in Gaza has ended and we are now on the brink, literally, there is a race against time between global diplomacy to de-escalate an escalation that could really see a cycle of counter- escalation and a wider war. And I think, I know you've been talking to your reporter about the possibility of a ceasefire in Gaza. I think the devil lies in the implementation details.
This is really, so my take on it, even though the statement by the American president and the Egyptian president and the Qatari Amir calls on both Israel and Hamas to basically sign the deal on the table. I think if you look at the details themselves, you really think, I mean, the likelihood, the chances are probably 40 percent and less as opposed to 50 percent.
FOSTER: But the relationships are so complicated in the region, aren't they? We've got this looming retaliation coming from Iran and Hezbollah. How do they, I mean, how does it come together that a peace deal would happen in the middle of that? Surely everyone's too focused on that.
GERGES: Well, yes, but I think now the Americans are redoubling their efforts to de-escalate because look, Max, if you tell me what is the magical two words about really to de-escalate the crisis, I would say ceasefire and Gaza.
[03:15:07]
Once the guns fall silent in Gaza, the escalation will happen automatically on the Israeli-Hezbollah front and the Israeli-Iran front. I mean, there is an organic link between what's happening, the war in Gaza that has been devastated. I mean, what you're talking about, really catastrophe in terms of civilian casualties, in terms of medical, in terms of, I mean, refugees, in terms of 95 percent of the Palestinian population in Gaza has been displaced multiple times, not to mention almost 100,000, more than 100,000 Palestinians have been killed and injured. And the Israeli hostages, of course, you have more than 100 Israeli hostages that are still suffering in Gaza.
So the reality, I think, on the table here is that this is why I see a bit of light, just a faint light, that this escalation cycle between, you know, after Israel assassinated the top Hezbollah commander in Beirut and allegedly assassinated the political leader of Hamas in Tehran, I think now there is probably a much more better realization that the Middle East really is a tinderbox, that this really could escalate and threaten not only regional stability, Max, but international peace and security, including involving the United States and Britain where I am in a wider conflict in the region.
FOSTER: If America does manage to get to the point where there's some sort of document to sign between Hamas and Israel, you're effectively asking Benjamin Netanyahu and Yahya Sinwar to come together and agree on that. At the moment, with what they currently think of each other, because they blame each other for everything, can you imagine them doing that? Isn't that the final hurdle, which seems insurmountable?
GERGES: I mean, I think you summarized the overriding challenge. I mean, look, I want to be a bit cynical, Max. What does really Benjamin Netanyahu want? He wants absolute victory. He basically has bound himself by saying absolute victory, which is impossible. In fact, Benjamin Netanyahu, as your reporter just mentioned, his security officials blame him for really sabotaging the deal over the past few months.
He keeps introducing new challenges. I mean, if you want absolute victory, how do you basically sign for a deal about a ceasefire in Gaza? And what does Hamas want? Hamas wants the end of the war, because it wants to alleviate the suffering of Palestinians and survive, politically survive. So how do you bridge the divide between a prime minister who wants absolute victory, utter victory, and a resistance movement, Hamas, that wants really basically the end, the war? This is the challenge.
Without really finding ways to bridge the divide, I fear that the implementation phase, once they meet on the 15th of August, as the statement has called on Israel and Hamas, we're going to be in the same cycle of demands and counter demands by Israel and Hamas.
FOSTER: Fawaz, as ever, thank you for your deep insight on this issue.
GERGES: Thanks. FOSTER: Now, Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna are canceled by an alleged terror plot. We have details on the foiled attack and the team suspected of carrying out the violence, the alleged violence, at least the plan.
Plus, Russian forces are on the defensive in the Kursk region as Ukraine pushes its incursion into another day. The latest on the fighting next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[03:20:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FOSTER: Austrian police are investigating the alleged terror plot targeting Taylor Swift's Eras tour. A Three-scheduled Vienna shows are now canceled after authorities say they uncovered a plan to attack the concert venue. Three teenagers have been questioned in connection with the plot.
CNN's Salma Abdelaziz has the latest from Vienna.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Chilling new details are emerging about the terror plot on a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna. Law enforcement says one of the suspects, a 17-year-old, had just been hired to work at the venue he planned to attack.
OMAR HAIJAWI-PIRCHNER, AUSTRIAN DIRECTOR OF SECURITY SERVICES: One of the suspects got an application a few days ago.
ABDELAZIZ: So he had applied for a job?
HAIJAWI-PIRCHNER: He had it.
ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): Officials believe the teens had a three- pronged attack, targeting one of the three sold-out Swift concerts for an estimated 65,000 fans each night. Investigators say the suspects planned to run over fans gathered outside the stadium with a vehicle, even obtaining a blue light for their car to mimic a police vehicle.
Then they planned to attack innocent concertgoers with knives and machetes. And in a final stage, they planned to detonate explosives at the site.
ABDELAZIZ: The alleged mastermind behind the plot is a 19-year-old suspect that lived in this home behind me here. We're just an hour outside Vienna. Authorities say he has confessed to this plot. And inside the house, police say they found ISIS propaganda, knives and machetes, counterfeit cash, detonators and chemical explosives.
ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): All three suspects were radicalized online by ISIS recruiters. HAIJAWI-PIRCHNER: It's very worrying. We can see that in Austria, we
have very young guys that are radicalized due to the fact that they are using the online propaganda that is brought out from ISIS and also ISKP.
ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): The prime suspect had pledged allegiance to ISIS. Neighbors say his family was always reserved.
UNKNOWN (through translator): They lived very reclusively. We did not see them in their backyard or their children outside.
ABDELAZIZ: The concerts are canceled, but the Swifties have filled the streets of Vienna, and they are singing her songs as loud as they can.
[03:25:05]
ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): Fans we spoke to say they are disappointed, but grateful to be safe.
UNKNOWN: This is what we're all about. It's like we make the best of a bad situation. In rain, in sun, like, we'll be here for hours.
ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): Salma Abdelaziz, CNN, Vienna.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Now, Russian forces are trying to repel Ukraine's largest incursion so far in the more than two-year-old war. Russian officials say the fighting appears to be ongoing in the Kursk region, bordering Ukraine, and 66 people have been wounded. According to the Kremlin, President Vladimir Putin met with regional leaders on Thursday and said there would be compensation for those who were forced to evacuate it.
Some residents appealed for help on social media, rejecting Moscow's claims that the situation is under control. A Ukrainian presidential adviser praised Western allies who said they have no issue with the incursion. With more on that incursion, here's CNN's Clare Sebastian.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is now the third day of what appears to be an attempt by the Ukrainian military to advance inside Russia, the first time we've seen anything like this in this two-and-a-half-year-old war. And Russia is claiming it now has the upper hand.
The Ministry of Defense says it's brought in reinforcements and has stopped the Ukrainian advance. This video, published by the Russian Ministry of Defense, purports to show a Russian airstrike destroying Ukrainian armored vehicles. CNN has geolocated this to a Russian village in the Kursk region near the Ukrainian border.
But unofficial accounts, including from Russian military bloggers and other video evidence like this, filmed inside a car which CNN has geolocated to just outside the town of Suja, also in the Kursk region, appears to show panicked civilians driving through deserted streets, claiming at one point they're being shot at. That all suggests that hostilities are still very much ongoing.
Now, the official Russian approach here is telling. Far from trying to hide the fact that they failed to protect their border, they're deflecting. President Putin accusing Ukraine of indiscriminately shelling civilians, portraying Russia as the victim of what he called a major provocation. And the White House, often given advanced warning about major operations, says it also knew nothing and will be seeking more clarity.
Clare Sebastian, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Well, twin sisters from Kharkiv have endured untold danger to train for the Olympics in the synchronized swimming. Now, they're aiming not just to represent their country, but to honor their fallen fellow Ukrainian athletes who, when they compete in Paris, which is on Saturday.
CNN's Fred Pleitgen has that story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It takes Russian missiles only about half a minute to strike Kharkiv in north-east Ukraine.
Survival is tough here. Now imagine training for the Olympics under near constant fire.
Twins Maryna and Vladyslava Aleksiva are on Ukraine's synchronized or artistic swimming team.
VLADYSLAVA ALEKSIVA, UKRAINIAN SYNCHRONIZED SWIMMER (through translator): There were many bad instances in Kharkiv. There is constant shelling. Almost every day there is some explosion, both during the day and during the night.
MARYNA ALEKSIVA, UKRAINIAN SYNCHRONIZED SWIMMER (through translator): And sometimes the air alarm doesn't happen in time.
V. ALEKSIVA (through translator): Yes, first the missile hits and then the air alarm sounds.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): The pool facility scarred by two and a half years of war, the windows blown out, temporarily sealed with plastic sheets.
The practice sessions often interrupted by air raid alerts, the athletes evacuated to the bomb shelter.
V. ALEKSHIVA (through translator): Yes, it is hit very often.
M. ALEKSHIVA (through translator): We had to jump out of the pool in our wetsuits and run to the shelter.
V. ALEKSHIVA (through translator): We stressed a lot and our training had to be interrupted. Kharkiv is only about 25 miles from the Russian border.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): Moscow's forces have repeatedly tried and failed to invade the city. But the toll on the civilian population has been immense. Scores killed and wounded by Russian strikes. Maryna and Vladyslava say just getting to practice means risking their lives.
M. ALEKSHIVA (through translator): One day we were on our way to the training and there was an explosion near us. You're not able to think in that moment what to do.
V. ALEKSHIVA (through translator): Where to go? We were too afraid to go on to our training, so we turned back home.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): But the twins say going to the Games in Paris, competing for their nation under siege, is a calling so great they're willing to brave the onslaught they see, hear and feel every day and which impacts their preparation so much.
V. ALEKSHIVA (through translator): We will do everything in our power to represent our country at the Olympics in the best way possible.
M. ALEKSHIVA (through translator): This is a huge responsibility for all our athletes right now. In these Olympics, we are not only athletes, we also represent Ukraine.
[03:30:00]
PLEITGEN (voice-over): And they say they will represent all the Ukrainian athletes lost to Russia's brutal invasion while voicing their anger at Russians allowed to compete in Paris, even though they'll be classified as individual neutral athletes.
VLADYSLAVA ALEKSIVA, UKRAINIAN SYNCHRONIZED SWIMMER (through translator): More than 500 athletes died during the war in Ukraine during this full scale invasion, and they won't be able to represent their country anymore at the Olympic Games. Meanwhile, the Russian athletes are going and will represent their country, their terrorist state at the Olympics.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): Fred Pleitgen, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MAX FOSTER, CNN LONDON CORRESPONDENT AND ANCHOR: Still to come with the men's marathon swim final just coming to an end, we'll recap all the stunning upsets and comebacks yesterday at the Paris Games.
Plus, we have new police body cam footage of the moments right before a gunman tried to assassinate Donald Trump. Details ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) FOSTER: CNN has obtained new bodycam police bodycam video of the moment a police officer seized the gunman right before the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, but also the immediate aftermath of the campaign rally in Pennsylvania last month. CNN's Danny Freeman has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's the moment we've heard so much about. Seen now for the first time on police body camera, a Butler Township police officer asking for a boost to check the roof of the AGR building outside former President Trump's rally. There's no audio in this video obtained by CNN.
You can see on the timestamp. This is less than one minute before Crooks started shooting. The officer climbs up to the roof and almost immediately drops down and the tone changes. You don't see it on the video, but police have said Crooks aimed his rifle right at the officer.
[03:35:00]
He runs to the other side of the building to look at the roof. And on this officer's dash cam, which was recording audio, you can hear those first three gunshots from Thomas Matthew Crooks at 6:11 p.m.
The officer rushes back to his car to get his rifle. You hear him shout to other law enforcement officers on the dashcam.
UNKNOWN: Don't pop your head. He's right there.
FREEMAN (voice-over): Back to the officer's body cam.
UNKNOWN: This close, bro. Do we turn around on me? He's straight up. Who's got eyes on him?
FREEMAN (voice-over): Chaos ensues. By this point, the gunman Crooks has already been killed by Secret Service. But it doesn't appear local law enforcement is aware. You were about to hop up.
UNKNOWN: He's laying down. He's got an arm next building over. Right after the gap. He's got glasses, long hair.
FREEMAN (voice-over): These videos provide new insight into local law enforcement's movements moments before the shooting and the frantic aftermath. Since that day, there's been finger pointing between U.S. Secret Service and Western Pennsylvania law enforcement, including testimony from the acting director of the Secret Service, asserting local snipers hidden in a building could have spotted Crooks.
RONALD ROWE, ACTING DIRECTOR, UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE: I'm not saying that they should have neutralized him, but if they had just held their post. And looked left, maybe. And there's a lot of maybes there, Senator.
FREEMAN (voice-over): This new body camera footage also suggests local law enforcement had warned Secret Service they needed to protect the building Crooks used to fire the shots.
UNKNOWN: I (expletive) told them they need to post the guys (expletive) over here. I told him that the (expletive). The Secret Service. I told him that (expletive) Tuesday. I told him to post (expletive) guys over here. What?
UNKNOWN: I thought you were guys on the roof.
UNKNOWN: No, we're inside.
UNKNOWN: Alpha one, Bravo one.
UNKNOWN: (expletive). I told them to post (expletive) guys over here.
UNKNOWN: I wasn't even concerned about it because I thought someone was on the roof. I thought that's how they count out. Can you lose a guy walking back there?
UNKNOWN: They were inside.
FREEMAN: I should also note that frustration you just saw right there coming just about 10 minutes after the shooting took place.
Now, we did get a statement from the Secret Service on Thursday saying that they are reviewing the body camera footage that was released by a local law enforcement. And furthermore, they added that they appreciate local law enforcement partners who acted courageously as they worked to locate the shooter that day.
Danny Freeman, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: The special counsel's office wants more time to prepare the case against Donald Trump in connection with the 2020 election subversion allegations after a year of pushing to move forward. Now, in the wake of the Supreme Court's sweeping decision on presidential immunity, Jack Smith's team say they need more time to figure out how to proceed.
A delay would mean any further action in the case could take place only in September at the earliest, a short time before the presidential election. The source said the Trump defense is happy to provide the extra time.
U.S. stocks surged on Thursday after a new jobs data report eased investors' fears about the economy. First time unemployment claims fell last week to just over 230,000. The blue chip Dow gained nearly 700 points or 1.8 percent. The broadly based S&P 500 rose 2.3 percent. It's best day this year. And the tech heavy Nasdaq composite added nearly 3 percent. It's best day since February.
Now, three North Carolina children are safe and unharmed after they were rescued by the Raleigh Fire Department on Thursday. The kids had been stuck in rapidly rising floodwaters caused by Tropical Storm Debby. Firefighters were able to pull them out, put them in a raft and take them to safety.
The storm dropped more than 15 inches of rain on one North Carolina City. Debby has weakened now to a tropical depression, but continues to bring flooding to the U.S. East Coast. The National Weather Service has issued flood watches from the Carolinas right to Vermont.
Now, moments ago, Hungary took home the first medals of today, a gold and a bronze in the men's 10 kilometer marathon swimming final. Germany nabbed the silver. Meanwhile, Team USA is on top of the Olympic medal board for now. The U.S. leads the pack with 30 gold medals, edging past China's 29 and bringing the American total medal count to 103.
Now, today is jam-packed with gold medals being awarded in 16 sports, including on the track for 400 meter men's and women's relay finals. And host nation France will face European rival Spain in the men's football final, while Germany and the Netherlands go head-to-head in the women's hockey gold medal match.
CNN's Coy Wire recaps Thursday's dramatic scenes in France.
[03:40:00]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COY WIRE, CNN WORLD SPORT: Huge storylines in Paris today. One of the biggest, the fastest man in the world, Noah Lyles, taken down in the 200 meter final, revealing afterwards he was competing with COVID. U.S. track and field said after the race that Lyles tested positive on Tuesday. They followed CDC protocols to prevent the spread.
Lyles said he went into quarantine, but never considered not racing. He was wearing a mask in the holding area ahead of the race. The 100 meter champ finished bronze, laid down on the track. Afterwards, medical personnel took him away in a wheelchair. A stunning turn of events.
It was a packed Stade de France. It went from roars of chanting USA to wows as Letsile Tebogo of Botswana flew past Lyles and American Kenny Biknerik, who took the silver winning time, 19.46 seconds. Fifth fastest time in history. Letsile Tebogo is the first African ever to win the 200, and he's Botswana's first ever Olympic gold medalist.
And she has done it again. American Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone breaking her own world record in the 400 meter hurdles with a time of 50.37 seconds. It was a showdown final facing the Netherlands speedster Femke Bol. She finished bronze. American Anna Cockrell took silver, but Sydney went on to do something nobody's ever done before in the event, winning back-to-back Olympic gold. Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone is now the most dominant in the event we've ever seen. She has broken the world record a mind boggling six times.
Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan stunned the world with an Olympic record throw of 92.97 meters. In the second round of the javelin final, it proved to be the unbeatable mark as Nadeem claimed the gold medal and dethroned India's Neeraj Chopra as Olympic champ. Nadeem is now Pakistan's first Olympic medal winner since 1992.
Finally, the United States men's basketball team survived a huge scare, racing a double-digit fourth quarter deficit to beat Serbia and Nikola Jokic, 95-91, earning a spot in the gold medal game. Steph Curry scored a game high 36 points. LeBron James tallied a triple double. The United States will face next, host nation France in the gold medal game on Saturday. A rematch from 2020. Paris will be rocking.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Thanks to Coy there.
Now police in Kenya face anti-government protesters with flash bangs and tear gas. We'll have a closer look at the crackdown in Nairobi.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[03:45:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FOSTER: To Kenya now, where more than 170 anti-government protesters were arrested on Thursday, according to CNN affiliate Citizen TV.
(VIDEO PLAYING)
Police fired tear gas and flash bangs at people who were peacefully protesting in the capital after they took to the streets for an eighth week. It started as a protest against the finance -- finance bill, which President William Ruto has since withdrawn, but has evolved into a movement against corruption, the high cost of living and police brutality.
CNN's Larry Madowo has been on the scene in Nairobi.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There is nowhere to escape to this tear gas and flashbangs in every direction you turn. So even though the constitution of Kenya guarantees the right to protest, that's the scene everywhere with police violently dispersing the protesters, shooting in the air, flashbangs, making the whole city look like a war zone. As we're doing this, we have to get out of here right now.
There's literally nowhere to escape to. Okay, we have to run from there and try and get to safety.
HUSSEIN KHALID, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, VOCAL AFRICA: Kenya is not a police state. So many have been killed. So many continue to be abducted. So many have been battered. They are in school, they are amputated. And no justice has been done to date. Not a single police officer has been held to account.
MADOWO: Protesters are on the streets for at least two weeks now and we've been hearing a lot of flashbangs, a lot of tear gas in the air, police shooting in the air throughout the day trying to disperse these protesters who are unhappy about the government of President William Ruto. They're unhappy about the fact that he fired a cabinet after public pressure, but then reappointed half of the cabinet back to their positions.
SUNSHINE ZOLA, PROTESTER: I'm telling the president, you had the perfect opportunity to fix this nation, but you refused. I voted for you, but here I am. I've lost faith and trust in you.
MADOWO: So you feel that the president is not listening?
MAWASI, PROTESTER: I don't feel he is not listening. Everyone is tone- deaf. Nothing will get to him. This, maybe this will get him to listen. Yes, the demonstrations.
MADOWO: It's supposed to be rush hour, but the streets of Nairobi are completely empty because police have made sure that no protesters gathered.
That is directly in contravention of Kenyan law that allows protesters to peacefully gather. And that's one of the reasons why they've been so angry about this heavy-handed response.
Larry Madowo, CNN, Nairobi.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: As Larry was reporting there, federal police fired two tear gas canisters in his direction. Larry is okay after being hit by a fragment on his face. Let's take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MADOWO: One of the reasons why the protesters are so angry, that police were not uniformed, were hooded, covering their identities, masking their plates, are on the streets, applying excessive force on largely peaceful protesters. And then, as we were just speaking, as they're leaving, the fire even more.
Ah, that was aimed directly at me.
He's aiming directly at me. He's aiming directly at me. He's shooting directly at me. Why you're shooting at me? Why are you shooting at me? Why are you shooting at me?
There's a flashback there, watch out. He is still shooting.
The police shot at least two tear gas canisters directly at me while I was looking at them at close range.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Well, we have reached out to the authorities. They haven't responded.
Paris cleaning up after, well, cleaning up with a scent, assuming, but will the Parisians take the plunge? That's the idea after the Olympics.
We'll explain the story when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[03:50:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FOSTER: A lawsuit alleges the crew of a doomed submersible knew they were about to die in the moments before the Titan imploded in June 2023. The $50 million lawsuit accuses the sub's operator, OceanGate, of gross negligence. The lawsuit was filed by the family of the French explorer, Paul-Henri Nargeolet. He was amongst five people who died during the sub's failed descent to the wreck of the liner, the Titanic. An attorney for the family says they want answers. The spokesperson for the company declined to comment.
Paris is determined to make the River Seine safe to swim in on a regular basis once the Olympics have finished, but the city may have a way to go to convince its residents to take the plunge.
CNN's Saskya Vandoorne explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SASKYA VANDOORNE, CNN SR. PRODUCER: This isn't the Seine.
But this is how some Parisians cool off in the summer.
VANDOORNE (voice-over): The Olympics promised to make the Seine clean and safe for swimmers, just like this canal.
VANDOORNE: Would you swim in the Seine?
UNKNOWN: I wouldn't drink a pint of it, but I'd swim in it. I think I would take the risk.
VANDOORNE (voice-over): Parisians can swim in these canals, but the city is looking to open three new spots in the River Seine next year, a legacy of the Olympics.
VANDOORNE: The canal comes from a different water source than the Seine.
VANDOORNE (voice-over): It dates back to Napoleon, and it was only opened to swimming in 2017.
VANDOORNE: But it's also tested daily for pollution and bacteria.
[03:55:06]
The Seine is right there. Would you get in it if you could?
UNKNOWN: I don't think so, because I'm afraid of getting sick.
UNKNOWN (translated): Full of rats, full of rubbish. And there we go, so I don't fancy getting sick.
UNKNOWN: Not for me. Well, maybe I need a suit with a helmet and everything, but not with a swimming pool, not with a bathing suit. No, no, never.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Two giant pandas made their first official public appearance at the San Diego Zoo on Thursday. The pair are the first giant pandas to enter the U.S. in more than 20 years as part of China's Panda Diplomacy Program. Crowds lined up for a chance to see the pair on this opening day, and the state's governor declared Thursday to be California Panda Day.
So what's a teacher in California supposed to do when a bear began to roam around her school? Well, this is what she saw when she opened the door to her classroom, would you believe? And since her name is Elaine Salmon, she might have had extra reason to worry. It's not clear how the beast actually got in.
It seems pretty friendly, but Salmon said the intruder charged towards her, so she quickly locked the door. It finally ran back to the mountains after she called in her husband to help, as sure enough, the bear found snacks that had been hidden away in the case of an emergency. Fortunately, it didn't have a taste for salmon, the Elaine Salmon kind, anyway.
That wraps up this hour of coverage. I'm Max Foster, in London. I'll be back with more "CNN Newsroom" with Chrissy joining us from Paris after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)