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Democrats Kick Off National Convention In Chicago; Donald Trump Visits Swing States During Democrats' Convention; Israel Accepts "Bridging" Proposal For Ceasefire Agreement; Ukraine Claims To Hold 1,250 Square Kilometer In Russia's Kursk Region. Ukraine Tells Civilians to Leave Eastern City of Pokrovsk; Biden Passes Torch to Harris on First Night of DNC; One Dead, Six Missing After Tornado Hits Luxury Yacht in Sicily; Rare Super Blue Moon Seen in the Sky on Monday. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired August 20, 2024 - 02:00   ET

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

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[02:00:24]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world, and to everyone streaming us on CNN Max. I'm Rosemary Church.

Just ahead, Joe Biden's bittersweet curtain call, the U.S. president taking the stage in Chicago to pass the torch to his second in command.

America's top diplomat says Israel has agreed to a U.S. proposal to close the gaps on a hostage and ceasefire deal in Gaza.

And we are live from Italy with the latest on the search for six people missing after a luxury yacht sank off the coast of Sicily.

ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: Good to have you with us. Well, just a short time ago, Democrats wrapped up an enthusiastic first night of their national convention in Chicago with top party members making the case to elect Kamala Harris, but also praising the service of President Joe Biden.

Harris herself took to the stage for a surprise appearance honoring Mr. Biden for his historic leadership, saying, "We are forever grateful to you."

Harris was joined on opening night by her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. They listened to rousing speeches by key Democrats who said this ticket represents the future and the new way forward.

But perhaps the most powerful moment of the night came as the crowd welcomed President Biden to the stage with four minutes of applause and chants, we love you, Joe. The U.S. president reflected on his legacy while passing the torch to Harris and telling the crowd, America's future is in your hands. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I love the job, but I love my country more. I love my country more.

And all this talk about how I'm angry, all those people said I should step down. That's not true.

In 2024, we need you to vote. We need you to keep the Senate. We need you to win back the House of Representatives. And above all, we need you to beat Donald Trump. And elect Kamala and Tim.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: CNN's MJ Lee was there on opening night, and has more now from Chicago.

MJ LEE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: The first night of the Democratic National Convention here in Chicago, clearly an emotional moment, an evening for President Joe Biden, who was the keynote speaker. Of course, he was initially meant to speak on the final night of the convention, but because he dropped out of the 2024 race four weeks ago, the president instead opening the convention here in Chicago.

And when he first took the stage after being introduced by his daughter, Ashley Biden, you could see the emotion. He actually turned away his back to the stage for a moment as he wiped away tears. And when he took the podium, the crowd inside this arena, holding we heart Joe signs for several minutes would not stop chanting, saying, thank you Joe, and we love Joe, over and over again, that moment too clearly bringing the president to tears.

And this was a speech that was long on accomplishments, he really took the time to lay out everything that he sees as the key accomplishments of the Biden-Harris administration, and at times calling out his former opponent, former President Donald Trump. And he made the case to everyone in this room and to the Americans tuning in, that it is time for them to elect Kamala Harris come November, take a listen to what he had to say about his vice president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: Selecting Kamala was the very first decision I made before I became -- when I became a nominee, it was the best decision I made my whole career. We've not only gotten to know each other, we become close friends. She's tough, she's experienced, and she has enormous integrity -- enormous integrity. Her story represents the best American story.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEE: And notably, when President Biden was finished speaking, we saw Vice President Harris and her new running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz joining him and the first lady Jill Biden on stage. Members of their families were also on stage as well, clearly wanting to show the entire room here and the nation watching the sign of unity for the party and the country.

[02:05:20]

We know that there are going to be many other speakers, key national Democrats that will be speaking on behalf of the president and the Biden administration's accomplishments, but also, of course, on behalf of Vice President Kamala Harris in making the case for her over the next three days.

But it was clear that the first night, the beginning of this convention, really was about trying to pay tribute to President Biden. And again, it was very clear that he was moved by those emotions and the signs of support that he could see all around this room, the gratitude that he could feel from those chants of we love -- we love Joe and thank you Joe, that really initially didn't end for a number of minutes, This was clearly a moment that he didn't anticipate even as of a number of weeks ago, but culminating -- culminated in the president dropping out and now delivering a completely different speech than what he would have some weeks ago.

MJ Lee, CNN in Chicago.

CHURCH: Larry Sabato is the director of the University of Virginia's center for politics. He joins me now from Charlottesville. Good to have you with us.

LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR POLITICS, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: Thank you, Rosemary.

CHURCH: So, the first night at the Democratic National Convention was headlined by President Joe Biden, who formally passed the torch to Kamala Harris, as did Hillary Clinton. What tone was set on this first night, and how did the energy and excitement compare to the mood and feel of the RNC?

SABATO: I think the Democrats did an amazing job in putting all of this together and rearranging it all in a month. These things take years to put together, and you do have to change a lot of the pieces if you're changing nominees, I wondered whether they'd be able to do it, but they brought a lot of different voices from different factions of the party together, and they've all been singing from the same tunes.

And I think it's really fit together nicely. It's given a good boost to Kamala Harris from the very beginning.

CHURCH: And with all this momentum behind Kamala Harris and indeed, her running mate, Tim Walz, what do they both need to be doing this week at the DNC to poll ahead of the Trump Vance ticket and lock in a pathway to victory?

SABATO: There are a couple things she needs to do. One is to fill in pieces of her own resume that people don't know, because, as we said many times, most Americans don't follow vice presidents that they know who she is, and that's about it.

So, she's going to do that. Walz will do some of it. He's less important to the vote than Kamala Harris's biography is.

But beyond that, she has to show where she's going to take America that will be different from where Joe Biden was going to take it. Part of it's easy for she's young, and so she projects a very different image. And for Democrats, it's really a question of how relieved they are that they don't have to defend Biden on the age question, they can move to the issues they care about.

The other piece of it is putting the issue positions together in such a way that it will energize women, young people and all minorities. That's her basic constituency group. If she does that, and they turn out in large numbers, she really will defeat Trump.

CHURCH: And we really are seeing this very clear contrast, aren't we, between the joy and hope, the excitement of the Democratic ticket compared to the fear and anger on the Republican side. Does Harris need to play that up more, that contrast, do you think?

SABATO: I think she will even on the first day and first evening, you had some of that. There were some good negative ads on Trump and some positive ads on Kamala Harris. So, I think they managed that well.

The more -- the more the tougher parts are being attributed to Harris indirectly through advertising, rather than making her say it at the podium and making others say it, but I think it was weaving together of the positive and negative that really put Democrats in good stead on their first day. And you didn't have much interruption from the protesters, one brief period of breaking through, and that was it.

CHURCH: And what are the winning issues for Democrats, and how should they be putting the message out there when it comes to the economy and reproductive rights?

SABATO: Yes, on the economy, it has to be a more defensive presentation, because it's awfully difficult to convince people that they're wrong.

[02:10:09]

And actually, the American people are wrong about their evaluation of the economy. It's actually a very strong economy, it's one of the two or three best in the world among the major powers, but that's not what people think.

So, you have to spend too much time and energy convincing them that they're wrong, and they also don't like to be told they're wrong, so sticking to abortion and reproductive freedoms, which the Democrats did well on the first night, they had some moving pieces of this, including from some victims, young victims of the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

But beyond that, I think it's a question of Donald Trump versus Kamala Harris. You have somebody who is being presented as sane, as even tempered, as well prepared for the various pieces of the presidency, versus Donald Trump who is clearly off track a great deal of the time and not even following his advisers' suggestions to stay positive or stay off the personal. He can't do it. He never will be able to do it.

CHURCH: And Larry, just finally with all the divisions in this country, is America ready for a Black woman to become the next U.S. President?

SABATO: Here's the really surprising thing, Rosemary, I think at first even a lot of Democrats thought, is this too much, too quickly? Well, they forgot we'd already had Hillary Clinton, and we've had other women politicians do very well in other fields.

But what has surprised me and surprised most people, is that Americans have moved beyond that for the most part. Now, there are hardcore Trump voters in the south, for example, who clearly are not ready for that, but for the swing voters and voters who are persuadable in the key states, the seven or eight states that are actually competitive, they seem to have resolved that in their own minds, really, in a matter of a month.

So, I'm sure there'll be some unpleasant incidents, but I don't think it will affect the final vote, and it's not going to determine the winner.

CHURCH: Larry Sabato, always a pleasure to have you on and have your analysis and share them with our viewers. Appreciate it.

SABATO: Thank you, Rosemary.

CHURCH: Thousands of protesters marched through Chicago as the convention kicked off, voicing their opposition to the war in Gaza, police say four people were arrested after breaching a security fence near the convention site, and some tried to bring down a second fence. They say protesters also threw water bottles and other items at offices, but authorities say there was no threat to those attending the convention.

Illinois' governor told CNN there's a good plan in place to keep the events safe. The Chicago area has one of the largest Palestinian communities in the United States. Protest organizers were hoping at least 20,000 people would turn out for Monday's march, but it appeared the crowd was much smaller.

While the Democrats rally in Chicago, Donald Trump is taking his campaign to key swing states, including Pennsylvania. The Republican presidential nominee strongly endorsed nuclear energy and told workers at a manufacturing plant that Kamala Harris will end fracking if elected, he also repeatedly called her a communist. CNN's Phil Mattingly takes a closer look at Trump's strategy this week.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: The political spotlight may be very firmly on Democrats and Vice President Kamala Harris throughout the course of this week, but the Trump campaign has made very clear they are going to try and still get their message out, counter programming in swing state after swing state after swing state throughout a five day blitz. The former president and his vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance hitting every single major battleground state, all seven of them over the course of the next five days, starting here in Pennsylvania. J.D. Vance was down in Philadelphia, the former president here in York at a speech that was rather different than what we normally see from him.

It was not a big rally. It was not a raucous affair. Instead, it was at a manufacturer. It was policy based, for the most part, and Trump mostly stuck to the script. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: every policy and the Trump agenda is designed to bring the jobs and wealth back home to America where it belongs and where it's going to stay. Kamala puts America last. I put America first.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: Now this format kind of very tightly coordinated, small crowds, maybe 150 to 200 people max is actually we're going to see throughout the course of the week. And if that sounds like something you may have heard of before, it actually tracks very closely with what Republicans have been saying for the last several weeks. They want the former president to do, stop with the personal attacks, stop with the rambling press conferences and rallies. Instead focus on policy contrast issues like the economy, like immigration, where for months now, Trump has had a fairly significant advantage over Democrats.

[02:15:03]

On Monday, it was the economy, it was energy here in the critical battleground Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, he'll be heading over to Michigan, then North Carolina, then Arizona, then Nevada, all states the Trump campaign wants to win, some of which it absolutely needs to win whether or not the former president can continue to stay on messaging those smaller events, well, that is part of the counter program we're going to have to watch in the days ahead.

Phil Mattingly, CNN, York, Pennsylvania.

CHURCH: Still to come, a look at the roadblocks obstructing a ceasefire hostage release deal in Gaza, and why America's top diplomat says this may be the last chance to reach an agreement, back with that and more in just a moment.

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CHURCH: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will be on his way to Egypt this hour. He is expected to discuss the Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal with leaders of Egypt and Qatar who have acted as mediators between Israel and Hamas.

Blinken met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday. He says Netanyahu has agreed to a bridging proposal to tackle disagreements between Israel and Hamas. Now, Blinken is calling on Hamas to agree to it.

Chief international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson has more.

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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice over): A terrorist bomb, the first in Tel Aviv in almost two decades, scattering shrapnel, sowing fear, exploding within hours of Secretary of State Antony Blinken's arrival, the city's alert level raised, Hamas claiming responsibility. America's top diplomat's peace mission here more high stakes than ever, pushing America's bridging proposal to get over talks disagreements.

ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: This is a decisive moment, probably the best, maybe the last opportunity to get the hostages home to get a ceasefire.

ROBERTSON (voice over): Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office reporting his 2-1/2 hour one-on-one meet with Blinken was positive. Netanyahu the day before sounding pessimistic.

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): There are things we can be flexible on and things we can't and which we must insist upon. Desire to make a deal should be directed at Hamas.

ROBERTSON (voice over): And Hamas in a statement as Blinken arrived, blaming Israel for the impasse. The new proposal meets Netanyahu's conditions and is in line with them, especially his refusal to a permanent ceasefire.

Key sticking points, they say, are the Netzarim Junction, referring to Israel's demand to search Palestinians returning to Northern Gaza for guns, a red line for Hamas.

[02:20:06]

The Philadelphi Corridor, Gaza's six mile border with Egypt, Israel insists it needs to control it to stop Hamas smuggling in weapons. Another red line for Hamas.

Rafah, Gaza's only road crossing to Egypt, the IDF controls it. Hamas wants it back. Israel says no.

Wrapping his day of meetings with Israeli officials, Blinken claiming some success.

BLINKEN: In a very constructive meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu today, he confirmed to me that Israel accepts the bridging proposal, that he supports it. It's now incumbent on Hamas to do the same.

An incremental step that even if Hamas backtrack on their public objections and agree to the U.S. proposal, is still a very long way from actual negotiations on the highly contentious disagreements.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Tel Aviv.

(END VIDEOTAPE) CHURCH: Gershon Baskin is a former hostage negotiator and currently the Middle East director for International Communities Organization. He joins us now from Jerusalem. Appreciate you being with us.

GERSHON BASKIN, FORMER HOSTAGE NEGOTIATOR: Thank you.

CHURCH: So, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has agreed to this bridging proposal to help work out disagreements between Israel and Hamas. How hopeful does this make you that some progress can be made? And how does a bridging proposal like this work exactly?

BASKIN: Well, we don't really know what the bridging proposal is. What we know is that we've heard Secretary Blinken saying that Israel accepted it. Prime Minister Netanyahu said that he accepted it, and we've seen statements by Hamas leaders who say they rejected in fact, they called it the American bridging proposals, Israeli proposals.

So, without the details being known, it's difficult to know exactly what happened in those closed rooms, but it is very clear that there won't be any agreement unless the United States and Qatar and Egypt use extreme leverage on both Israel and Hamas to bring about an agreement. The gaps between the two sides are very wide, or they have been very wide until now, and it's difficult to know how they can be bridged with what we know is on the table.

That's why, last week, or two weeks ago, I suggested to the mediators that they put a new proposal on the table that would be better for Israel and better for Hamas. Would give each more of what they want, and still be a deal that would be difficult to say no to.

CHURCH: And what was that exactly? What was the framework of that?

BASKIN: Well, the basic contours of it is that it would be shorter in its length without a need to renegotiate. Right now we have a six week ceasefire period during which continued negotiations going on, on extending the ceasefire, and during the first phase, only 33 of the Israeli hostages would be returned, and we don't know if all of those are alive.

What I propose is to make a deal that would include all 115 hostages. Right now, we were told that six bodies of hostages were recovered by the Israeli army last night. So, we're down to 109 hostages, but they would deal with all the hostages, and the war would end within four to six weeks, during which time all the security concerns of Israel would be dealt with.

Primarily, the Philadelphi Corridor has to be secured, but it can be secured on the Egyptian side. The problem is the Israelis don't trust the Egyptian side, so we need American inspectors and verifiers on the Egyptian side of the border in order to ensure that Israel leaves the Gaza Strip.

There are other examples like that of resolving the security concerns of Israel, which are legitimate without having Israeli soldiers in Gaza. And a big sticking point is, of course, subject to the Palestinian prisoners. And there I put down a proposal as well. CHURCH: Yes. And as you point out, still so many roadblocks here to be

sorted through. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken now calling on Hamas to agree to this bridging proposal. As you point out there, they have said it's pretty much what Israel wants here.

But could they negotiate a little bit more, and could we see a situation where Hamas says, OK, I'll accept -- will accept this bridging proposal?

BASKIN: Right, I think that the Qataris and the Egyptians need to weigh in with their doomsday leverage today. Doomsday leverage for Qatar is telling the Hamas leadership that if they don't agree to the deal that's on the table now, their leadership will have to find a different home. They won't be welcomed in Qatar anymore, and the Egyptians hold the lifeline of the Gaza Strip, including 160,000 Gazans who escaped Gaza and are right now in Cairo.

So, the Egyptians have quite a bit of leverage over Hamas as well, and they need to use as much leverage as possible. I'm assuming that in the 2-1/2 hours of private talks between Secretary Blinken and Prime Minister Netanyahu, the United States also weighed in pretty heavily on Israel with some of their extreme leverage that they hold over Israel.

[02:25:14]

CHURCH: Yes. So, one can assume that maybe behind closed doors, there would be those sorts of conversations, and a lot of people have suggested that that should be what's happening right now.

So, Secretary Blinken, as we know and we've been reporting, on his way to Egypt now to discuss this latest Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal with the leaders of Egypt and Qatar, who have been mediators in these talks.

So, what is the likely next stage in this process and what additional roadblocks need to be figured out, and when is it too late here?

BASKIN: Well, I think that first, the Americans and the Egyptians are going to be discussing the Philadelphi Corridor and the Rafah Crossing, on how that's going to be handled in a way that it won't be controlled by Israel or Israeli troops in Gaza.

And here, the Americans will be telling the Egyptians, I assume, that the U.S. is willing to provide finance and technology in order to ensure that there won't be tunnels underneath this six mile road separating Gaza from Egypt, this is something that must happen, because Hamas was armed all these years through tunnel smuggling of weapons into Gaza. The Rafah Crossing needs to be a manned and opened in a way that ensures that it's not a smuggling route and that it is the humanitarian corridor that it needs to be. I assume they're going to be working on that.

With the Qataris, they're probably going to be working on the issue of the Palestinian prisoner release, of how many prisoners per Israeli hostage, who those prisoners are, how many of the life sentence prisoners who have murdered Israelis would be released in where will they be released to? Israel is demanding that the most dangerous prisoners be expelled from Israel. Maybe Qatar is going to be offering them a place where they can reside, if that is the decision of what they're going to do with those prisoners.

CHURCH: Gershon Baskin in Jerusalem. Many thanks for joining us. Appreciate it.

BASKIN: Thank you.

CHURCH: Well, meantime, the humanitarian situation in Gaza is deteriorating further amid the war, with new evacuation orders, food shortages and rising cases of illnesses. Anthony Blinken says the U.S. and Israel are working together on a "detailed plan for polio vaccinations in the Enclave."

According to UNICEF, the Palestinian health ministry says the first case of polio in 25 years has been confirmed in Gaza and U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres is calling for a pause in the fighting to allow for a vaccination campaign. Mothers in the Enclave are pleading for help.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELHAM NASSAR, SON SUFFERS FROM SKIN DISEASE (through translator): We're tired of this life. We're tired of the life we are living, no food, no drink, no medicines. What are we supposed to do in this life? At the least, we need medicines for our children and to protect our children and prevent them from being infected with the polio virus that's now spreading across Gaza.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Ukraine's president says the fact that Russia has not retaliated against the Ukrainian incursion or to Western weapons being used in Russian territory means that Moscow was bluffing about its red lines.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Ukraine's forces now control more than 1,200 square kilometers and 92 settlements in Russia's Kursk Region. Kyiv says its goal is to create a buffer zone between the two countries and to degrade Russia's ability to continue the war.

Russian officials say they have resettled more than 121,000 residents since the start of the incursion two weeks ago, fighting continues in the region, and Mr. Zelenskyy is telling allies they shouldn't fear Russian reprisal for arming Ukraine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): We are now witnessing a significant ideological shift, namely the whole naive, illusory concept of so called red lines regarding Russia, which dominated the assessment of the war by some partners, has crumbled these days, somewhere near Sudzha. The world sees that everything in this war depends only on courage, our courage, the courage of our partners, on brave decisions for Ukraine, on courage in supporting Ukraine, and on brave steps, and not just our steps, it's important that partners are in sync with us in this determination, and then Russia will have no other option left but a just peace. We must force Russia with all our might and together with our partners, towards peace.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Ukraine is facing pressure on its eastern front, as Russian forces rapidly advance on the city of Pokrovsk, authorities have begun what they call a forced evacuation of children and their parents.

[02:30:00]

They say it's necessary with the city in range of Russian heavy weapons, residents are being warned they have two weeks at most to leave the city before Russian troops arrive. More than 53,000 civilians remain in Pokrovsk, which Ukraine uses as a military hub.

Still to come, passing the torch in American politics. Joe Biden takes to the stage at the Democratic National Convention to make the case where a Kamala Harris presidency.

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CHURCH: While it may be Kamala Harris' Democratic National Convention, but Monday night belonged to Joe Biden. Vice President Harris spoke briefly to the delegates gathered in Chicago, praising President Biden for his leadership and saying, she's forever grateful to him. The sitting president was the keynote speaker of the night. He got a four- minute ovation from the crowd before touting his accomplishments and praising his vice president.

Delegates also heard from the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton. She said Kamala Harris would fight for working-class families and restore abortion rights nationwide. And I spoke earlier with Lindy Li, a member of Kamala Harris' National Finance Committee. And I asked for her reaction to President Biden's speech at the Democratic National Convention.

LINDY LI, POLITICAL STRATEGIST: I was trying not to cry. This is a fundamentally good man. And up until a month ago, this convention was supposed to be his. And it got moved to Monday night, because what he did was a tremendous act of self self-service -- I mean public service by stepping aside and allowing his vice president to run for president. This is just an incredible display of love and gratitude towards his man. And honestly, he's one of the most impactful presidents of my lifetime. So, my heart goes out to President Joe Biden. He's just such a phenomenal public servant.

CHURCH: Yeah, it all changed very quickly, doesn't it --didn't it? And of course, you will be back at the DNC Tuesday night as a member of Kamala Harris' National Finance Committee and a VIP donor who has raised millions of dollars for Harris' campaign. What is the goal this week at the DNC? What does Harris need to say and do to cement a path to victory?

[02:35:00]

LI: I think right now, our primary goal is to reach every corner and crevice of America. For example, this is the first convention that will be shown vertically on people's devices, on people's TikToks, Twitter, what have you? We are trying to reach every single state, every single demographic of America, especially young people, because young people, especially Gen Z and Millennials, they will be propelling Kamala Harris to victory.

So, we are trying to harness every aspect of American society and to show that Kamala Harris has an agenda for the people, that she's not working for billionaires, and that she's not going to bring that chaos, the pandemonium that Trump would unleash.

CHURCH: And Lindy, the economy and immigration are proving to be the two issues that make Harris most vulnerable with polls showing more Americans trust her rival Donald Trump on these issues than they do her. So, what does Harris plan to say this week to change minds on these top issues for voters?

LI: Rosemary, that's an excellent point and I think she's already trying to make inroads. For example, you saw that she's advocating for the expansion of the Child Tax Credit and she's advocating for bringing down health care costs and drug costs. And what she did and what she and President Biden did on insulin was extraordinary, capping the price at $35. So, more policies alone the lines of that.

And she did make a slight break from President Biden; she said, yes, inflation has come down. Yes, economic indicators have improved, but prices are still too high. So she's acknowledging that things aren't ideal, that the status quo can still be improved. And so, this is her economic policy that she's building out the middle-class (ph), that she's not focusing on billionaires and corporations, that she's not going to continue the multitrillion dollar tax break that billionaires got under the Trump Administration.

CHURCH: And you can see my full interview with Lindy Li next hour, here on "CNN Newsroom." Well, crews are searching for a second day off the coast of Sicily for the six people still missing from the sinking of a luxury yacht. It was struck by a tornado early Monday, killing at least one person. Among the missing, British tech tycoon, Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter. 15 people were rescued, including Lynch's wife, whose company owned the yacht.

And CNN's Barbie Latza Nadeau is covering this for us live from Rome. So Barbie, what is the latest on search and rescue operations here? And what more do we know about what actually caused the yacht to go down?

BARBIE LATZA NADEAU, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Yeah, you know, the Fire Brigade put out an update last night saying that their first attempt with their divers to get inside that sunken luxury yacht was unsuccessful. They said there was too much debris inside. Now, what we know is this yacht had six sleeping suites. And so, they're working on the theory that the missing people might still be inside there. They've searched the surface of the water. It was close enough to the shore that they feel confident that there aren't people that are still above water.

So, the idea according to the civil protection people, coast guard and other authorities there, is that the missing are inside the boat. It is just how they're going to be able to get inside and of course, keep safe doing so. Now, this waterspout or this tornado-style waterspout just sort of came up out of nowhere early yesterday morning.

This is more than 24 hours ago, but we had several weather systems across Italy yesterday that produced very similar phenomena. There was one off Sardinia, there was one off the southern region of Apulia. So, this is according to the weather experts, this is a combination of warm water and cold air that just suddenly creates these very dangerous weather situations, Rosemary.

CHURCH: And Barbie, what more are we learning about the passengers who are still missing?

LATZA NADEAU: Well, we do know that 15 people were rescued. Four of those people were injured and in hospital, among those a one-year-old baby and her 36-year-old mother who described to reporters on the scene there how -- for about a minute, two minutes, she lost touch with that baby in those high waves and was able to somehow miraculously save her child. They've been rescued. They are in hospital. They're getting the care that they need.

We do know that all of the ten crew members were rescued, including what's being described as a captain. We don't have a real good idea exactly of the hierarchy in terms of the crew and who was doing what at the time. And we do know that the missing passengers, including Mike Lynch, who has been described as sort of the Bill Gates of the U.K. or the British Bill Gates or Steve Jobs, you know, those who are missing are indeed passengers, Rosemary.

CHURCH: All right. Barbie Latza Nadeau in Rome, bringing us up-to-date on that story. Appreciate it.

[02:40:00]

Stargazers were treated to a rare cosmic event on Monday. When we come back, views of the super blue moon as it was seen around the world.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: A super blue moon appeared in the sky on Monday. It's a rare combination of a super moon and a blue moon, and takes place when the moon is closest to the earth and appears bigger and brighter. But despite the name, blue moons don't actually appear blue. The cosmic event usually happens about once every ten years, but there was a super blue moon last August as well. The next one is projected for 2037. We'll wait for that.

CHURCH: Thanks so much for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church. "World Sport" is up next. Then I will be back in about 15 minutes with more "CNN Newsroom." Do stick around. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WORLD SPORT)