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Two Firefighters Killed Battling Wildfires in Greece; Rep. Max Miller Vows to Remain in Re-Election Race; Dana Bash Pushes REF Jr. on Vaccines, Covid and Measles. Aired 6:30-7a ET
Aired August 03, 2026 - 06:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[06:34:34]
AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody. I'm Audie Cornish. Thank you for joining me on CNN THIS MORNING.
It's half past the hour, and here's what's happening right now.
Today, Kentucky's governor facing what would be a deadline to fill Senator Mitch McConnell's seat if that seat were empty. Governor Andy Beshear has been calling on the 84 year old Republican, Mitch McConnell, to disclose more about his health. Now, since his absence from the Senate more than 40 days ago, people have been asking about McConnell.
[06:35:02]
And Kentucky voters over the weekend say they also want to hear from the senator directly.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Absolutely. Absolutely he should step down. He can't serve.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think he should be more forthcoming. I don't think there's any question that he should give an interview to the press.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Now, to be clear, McConnell's office has released two photos and a letter from the Senate physician stating that McConnell is currently recovering. He hopes to return to the Senate as soon as possible.
New details this morning about that mass shooting at an In-N-Out restaurant in Idaho. Authorities say an off-duty state trooper and a citizen helped stop the shooter. Now video is showing the moment here that one of them engaged the suspect in a firefight.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We were just sitting there, and then I was playing
on my phone. Then I heard a couple pops.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Once in the roundabout, you heard everybody running, screaming, shooter, active shooter. And then we heard some shots, boom, boom, boom
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Three people were killed, seven more injured. Police say the gunman died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
And there's also new video showing the speed and destructive force of the fast moving wildfires tearing across parts of Washington state. Crews are battling three massive blazes in Spokane County that have burned more than 7,000 acres and forced 65,000 people out of their homes. At least 700 structures are damaged or destroyed.
And then in Europe, wildfires are cutting a devastating path across the continent. Several countries, including France, Spain, Portugal, they are seeing the most intense wildfire season on record. And just last month, more than 330,000 people were evacuated from communities across France and Spain. And this was the largest evacuation since World War II.
Officials say right now the most immediate areas of concern are in Greece. Two firefighters were killed there yesterday, two more wounded after their helicopters collided in mid-air near Athens.
Elinda Labropoulou is joining me now from Greece with the latest details.
And, Linda, people were commenting on set, it looks calm where you are, but can you give us a sense of the damage right now?
ELINDA LABROPOULOU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is calm where I am. But, you know, there are fires breaking out all the time in different parts of the country. It is very windy all over Greece at the moment. And what happened yesterday, the reason why the two helicopters collided is very much linked to the extreme conditions around the country.
What we do know is that the crew of the one helicopter, the pilot and his Greek liaison officer, are both dead. We know that the crew of the second helicopter survived this. They just had some minor injuries. They're now in hospital, and their health is in good condition.
But, you know, just looking at this sort of highlights the very difficult conditions people have to deal with when they're trying to deal with such extreme phenomena. And at the same time, trying to put people -- take people away, move them out of their homes.
We have a mega fire raging in Greece at the moment. It's raging very close to Athens, about 40 miles from Athens. Let's take a listen to what some of the people that are caught in the middle of it had to say.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): It's not a good situation. This is extremely sad. The wind is very strong. It keeps changing direction. It's difficult to deal with. If the firefighters who are trained and experienced can't contain it, how can we?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Now it's flaring up again from above. What can I say really? The situation is desperate. More police than firefighters. That's what I see.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LABROPOULOU: And what we're experiencing here is part of a wider picture. A wider situation of what has been taking place in Europe throughout the summer. Heat waves, mega fires, mass evacuations. And the question here is, how is Europe going to deal with this? You know, what you can see behind me may look very idyllic, but at the same time it's covered in vegetation that can no longer stand these temperatures. So, it's very much about what is going to happen to the European way of life, Audie.
CORNISH: OK, that's Elinda Labropoulou speaking to us from Greece. Thank you for that reporting.
I want to turn to this story coming out of Congress over the weekend. Ohio Republican Representative Max Miller doubled down on his re- election bid and defended himself against allegations that he abused his ex-wife and young daughter. This as his former father-in-law, Senator Bernie Moreno, says he's not fit to serve. Now, Moreno is writing on X that Miller should not hold elected office and that he needs professional help to end, quote, "a clear pattern of abuse."
Now, Miller and the senator's daughter, Emily Moreno, have been in a contentious and public custody battle since their divorce. The statement coming after Miller appeared on a live stream in an attempt to clear his name over the weekend.
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REP. MAX MILLER (R-OH): I have never abused our daughter.
Every one of these allegations traces back to a single source, my former wife.
Just want to be clear, no court, no agency has ever substantiated any allegation of abuse against me.
I also want to address the allegations of domestic abuse. I categorically deny abusing my former wife.
I'm not getting out of this race, and I'm winning in November.
(END VIDEO CLIP) CORNISH: So, if Miller were to drop out of the race, the deadline for the Ohio Republican Party to replace him on this fall's ballot is August 10th.
The group chat is back.
And, unfortunately, I am constantly doing stories like this.
I just want to put up for you some names of alleged sexual misconduct in Congress. These are both closed and publicly disclosed matters.
Eric Swalwell, of course, California, sexual misconduct, including with a staffer. Tony Gonzales, also relationship with a staffer. He's Republican in Texas. Cory Mills, Republican, I believe Florida. And people forget that George Santos, while everyone talked about his campaign finance issues, had also been accused of sexual harassment.
The reason why I want to show these is because it turns out sexual misconduct allegations are not disqualifying. You will not be forced out of Congress if you were accused in any way, in -- at any level of credibility.
SARA FISCHER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA ANALYST: Well, one of the clear through lines is, does your sexual misconduct also result in a criminal charge? And so this is actually, Audie, where I think people are struggling with the line. A criminal charge very clearly spells the end of your congressional bid or your congressional seat.
In these cases, a lot of the times these are allegations. And I'm not saying that they're not substantiated. But as is the case with Representative Miller, as he noted, it's just one person making the claim. And that one person has not been backed in a court necessarily that's resulted in a charge.
So, what does that mean for Congress moving forward? It means that everyone's trying to play the court of public opinion.
CORNISH: Yes.
FISCHER: And if you're the former father-in-law of Representative Miller, as is Senator Moreno, you have a difficult political calculus to make as well. Do you want to be the person who's not standing by your daughter, who is alleging sexual assault and violence against their daughter, which is his granddaughter? You don't want it to be your public perception if you're going to have a political career. So, I understand why he's going to come out and say something.
Whether or not he ultimately gets pushed out ahead of this deadline is a very serious thing for Ohio Republicans. Remember, the Democrats are trying to win the House. The Republicans are trying to defend it. This is a key state and a key seat. It's going to be very interesting to see how much pressure they put on him.
CORNISH: We should say, Moreno, after holding back, has come out and made a very specific statement saying that he feared for his daughter, feared for his granddaughter. And you bringing him up reminds me of this reporting from "Politico," where they say the allegations have Republicans, quote, "silently sweating."
And then a GOP operative, who wanted to remain anonymous says this. "What happens when Democrats run ad after ad targeting GOP voters about Miller abusing the daughter of a pro-Trump MAGA senator?" To your point of the conflicting tension here.
Here's an example of how this could play out. Our own Kasie Hunt talking with Jim Jordan. This happened on Thursday. Just an example of the exchange. And then I want my congressional pros to tell me what's up.
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KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: I just want to show you what you told "Newsmax" when you saw that Graham Platner was facing these accusations. Watch.
REP. JIM JORDAN (R-OH): That's always been the case with Democrats. It's all about maintaining power. They will take any crazy position as long as it furthers their ability to win elections and get power and, frankly, to go against anyone who goes against President Trump.
HUNT: Why does that not apply here to Republicans who want to keep power in this seat?
JORDAN: Well, I don't know the context of the question I was asked about Mr. Platner, but my guess is it was -- it was about all the ridiculous positions he's taken, it is about his anti-Israel and the Nazi tattoo and everything else.
HUNT: The banner up there says, Platner's ex-girlfriend accuses him of abuse.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: There's going to be a lot of this. I mean, like with Platner, Democrats were asked every day for two weeks about allegations that were not as specific as this and did not involve massive court filings. So, how do you answer?
MARC SHORT, FORMER CHIEF OF STAFF FOR VICE PRESIDENT PENCE: Well, look, I think that -- I served in the first administration with Max. And what I would encourage him is that there's a lot more important things in life than being a member of Congress, and that he has a little child that he should be concerned about at this moment.
This is a human tragedy playing out in front of the whole American public. But if you're asking the naked politics of it, Ohio's --
CORNISH: I'm asking about both, because one seems to drive the other. There -- Platner left. He eventually dropped out. That's --
SHORT: Well, I mean --
ASHLEY ETIENNE, FORMER COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR FOR VICE PRESIDENT HARRIS: So did Swalwell. [06:45:02]
CORNISH: Swalwell left.
SHORT: Yes, but --
CORNISH: It's possible.
ETIENNE: Our party --
SHORT: It's possible. But --
CORNISH: And during your term one, he had to end up --
SHORT: It's not like -- it's not like the party acted on -- let's be clear, it's not like the party acted on Platner.
CORNISH: Correct.
SHORT: The reality is that Platner had a Nazi tattoo that all Democrats were comfortable with. He was trafficking on child sex trafficking apps that Democrats were comfortable with. It wasn't until the final rape allegation that finally they said, hey, this is too much. So, it's not --
CORNISH: So, what do you think will be too much with Miller? You're giving a long list here. What is your line? And I ask because, you know, he actually, Miller, had to have a defamation suit against Stephanie Grisham, who also, in the first term, raised this issue of abuse.
SHORT: As they say --
CORNISH: And so, what I want to know is --
ETIENNE: But it's more than this. A child's involved.
CORNISH: What is the line and who draws it? Because it's not -- what I don't understand about Congress is, it used to be that if someone sat in your lap, Gary Hart, it was like, you're out.
ETIENNE: Yes, allegations were enough. Allegations were enough as --
CORNISH: We're -- obviously we're past that point. You can get away with all kinds of things.
SHORT: You're right. There's no doubt. There used to be a period in which the House and Senate Ethics Committees played a much stronger role in self-policing their own delegations than they do today. There's no doubt about that.
But as far as, again, the sheer politics of Ohio, it's a state where, you know, Republicans have had a strong hold the last several cycles, but Democrats are -- have a really strong position. This like, oh, Sherrod Brown and all the polling is significantly up. The governor's race looks like it's -- you know, Democrats are performing better than people thought. And so, this is the last thing Republicans in Ohio want is the sitting senator and a House member having this internal fight in front of the entire public.
CORNISH: And it's a very public fight. He is very much coming out and saying he denies all allegations. That this is not true. He did a live stream where he gave his explanation. I want to give an example of that live stream, for instance, when he's talking about his relationship with his ex-wife.
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REP. MAX MILLER (R-OH): Six days later, she offered to cook empanadas for me for dinner, just two days later after this alleged incident.
So, ask yourself, if I had assaulted her, would she have offered to cook me dinner six days later?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: This is what he's asking the voters. This is the public.
ETIENNE: I mean -- you know, I mean, I agree with Marc, I mean, I think there have to be some things that are more important than your own political aspirations, and it has to be the health and security of your family. There is a child at the center of all of this, and I think that's what's getting lost, you know.
In each of these other allegations with Platner and Swalwell, they decided to step down. Those were just allegations at the time, and that was on pressure from, not just voters, but also from Democratic leadership.
But here's a real reality is that there has been sort of a normalization of these political controversies, sort of post the Donald Trump era. We've seen now -- to me, this says much -- something much larger, not just about the individuals that are in public office, but also about the public and how we view our elected officials. If you look, you know, look no further than to Paxton in Texas. Some of these things have been so normalized that people are prioritizing their own economic interest over whether or not a guy is compromised in so many different ways.
CORNISH: But we are not hearing this kind of allegation about Paxton. I just want to be clear about that, right?
ETIENNE: No. No, but I mean --
CORNISH: He's just in a divorce.
But you mentioned the public has changed. I think one of the ways we've changed is after the MeToo movement --
FISCHER: Yes.
CORNISH: While some elements haven't stuck, the idea of what's a gray area, the idea of what's an allegation, what's credible, what's not has been really rocked in a lot of ways. And I don't mean always in the favor of the accuser.
FISCHER: Correct.
CORNISH: As we've seen in Hollywood. Plenty of people have been able to beat back allegations.
FISCHER: I think about the Senator Al Franken incident all the time. To me, that was a turning point for people in Congress where that incident, you know, it very instantly canceled him and booted him out of Congress, where it might not have, if it had stood another test in time --
CORNISH: Yes, people then expressed regret later after.
FISCHER: Yes. Yes.
ETIENNE: And those were faceless allegations, in fact.
FISCHER: I do think though that, again, where this line -- we do know where the clear line is, which is criminal charges. And so the question becomes, allegations, criminal charges, anywhere in between becomes a political battle. To what extent are your allies willing to back you? In this case, I mean his own father-in-law is not backing him, and that's the most critical ally that he needs in Ohio.
I think if the voters see that the party stands behind a person, then the voters are much more likely to stand behind the person. It's when you start to lose the support of your own party where you get caught.
ETIENNE: The Republican speaker is standing behind Miller. And interestingly enough, this is going to be a vulnerability because Miller only won that seat by 51 percent. So, this is going to be a real target where Democrats are going to throw a lot of money at this seat.
CORNISH: OK, that's a surprise because they didn't expect to be spending money there. So, I want to turn to something else, right?
We've been talking for months about the measles outbreak, a lettuce parasite. So, are we losing trust in our public health institutions in this post-pandemic era?
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[06:54:02]
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DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR: Are you also trying to find out how it interacts with people's DNA? What's predisposed to have an autistic child? Are you doing both?
ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR., HHS SECRETARY: Yes, but, Dana, you probably don't understand this because you're not a scientist, but you just don't cause --
BASH: Well, you're not either.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: All right, I was watching this yesterday, this interview between CNN's Dana Bash and Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr. It lasted more than 20 minutes. They covered everything. The secretary's history of vaccine skepticism, ongoing measles outbreak, the U.S. response to the Covid-19 pandemic, of course.
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DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR: Anthony Fauci and the president had opinions, but the lockdowns were done by governors, and largely because --
ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR., HHS SECRETARY: And we did --
BASH: And largely because --
KENNEDY: And we've been citing Anthony Fauci --
BASH: Largely because they were hearing -- they were hearing from hospitals saying that their ICUs were overrun and they needed some help while that was happening. But I want to -- I want --
KENNEDY: Well, that's not true. Dana, that's just not true.
BASH: It is true.
KENNEDY: What you're saying is not true. No, they were doing it because Anthony Fauci was telling them from the top, you need to lock down.
[06:55:05]
There were ICUs that were empty all over the country, including in New York at the height.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: So, the group chat is back.
I wasn't here last week, but I did keep an eye on the Fauci hearings. Was it worth taking another bite at the Covid response apple? Republicans are spending a lot of time on it.
SHORT: Look, I think that a lot of Americans have lost trust in our public health officials. I think that a lot of the advice that was given on lockdowns was dead wrong. I think a lot of the advice, particularly shutting down schools, really hurt our kids. And I think there is a lot of distrust.
I'm not sure that RFK is the one that's going to bring that trust back into the public health community for the general public. And I'm not so sure, you know, what antagonizing Fauci really is going to do for voters come November. CORNISH: The other weird thing is that there's a cyclospora outbreak.
And everywhere I went people asked me about lettuce, reading stories about farmers plowing under their lettuce because they can't sell it. Thousands of people have been sickened by this.
And then you've got the measles outbreak that had happened. I just want to show you measles cases under Kennedy's term at Health and Human Services. Cracking up by the 2,300 mark.
And here's what he said about that at the time when he was asked about this.
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ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR., HHS SECRETARY: It used to be when you and I were kids, everybody got measles and measles gave you protection -- a lifetime protection against measles infection. The vaccine doesn't do that. The vaccine is effective for some people for life, but many people, it wanes. It causes all the illnesses that measles itself causes, encephalitis and blindness, et cetera. And so, people ought to be able to make that choice for themselves. And what we need to do is give them the best information and encourage them to vaccinate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Is he restoring trust?
ETIENNE: No, I mean, I think he's sowing distrust. And that's, you know -- and for me the question is, why? Why, you know -- and Trump is not even a true believer. I mean Trump took the Covid vaccine, at the same time in which he was discouraging, to some degree, discouraging others to do the same. And so, for me, there's something very sinister here about this effort to continue to question established science at the expense of American lives.
CORNISH: It is on brand for him and his history, however. And I think I've been --
ETIENNE: But is he effective. That is my point.
CORNISH: Yes.
ETIENNE: You've got kids that are dying. You had 1.2 million people die from Covid, you know. And so, that's really what this is about is why people who are in public office are sowing distrust at the expense of American lives. I mean that's the part of (INAUDIBLE) health.
CORNISH: In the meantime, every time I open the paper, there's a new thing. Over the weekend, it was, let me see this, half states have reported the spread of a deadly fungus going on. And I kind of just want someone to tackle the things that are scary and spreading right now. What is his term teaching us about this process? Because MAHA isn't necessarily happy with him. You know, Trump isn't always happy with him, even around some vaccine issues. Where does this guy stand at this point? FISCHER: So, President Trump relied heavily on RFK's network of online
influencers to get elected. Once RFK dropped out, Sage Steele and Danica Patrick and all of these sort of --
CORNISH: Women.
FISCHER: You know, women, suburban women who care deeply about their kids, they migrated their vote over to President Trump. So, as a result, President Trump wanted to keep in the good graces of RFK because he wanted to tap into that audience.
Now, fast forward to where we are today. You don't get the sense from Donald Trump, President Trump, that he is as much of a vaccine skeptic as his Health and Human Services secretary. Case in point, how much did he tout Operation Warp Speed? I'm the president that got those vaccines out. I'm the person that got the Covid pandemic stopped. He got the Covid vaccine.
He has, you know, made in -- during Covid he made some comments about ivermectin and all those types of things. Ultimately, the president has continued to see regular doctors and get normal health care. So, you don't get the sense that he's against the health care system.
But I also think that he sees the political advantage of retaining RFK's audience and the mentality that he has around it. There's also an irony, though, Audie, in that RFK, Mr. Health Purists, get the dies out of my food, is working for President Trump, Mr., I like McDonald's and my steaks well done with ketchup.
CORNISH: Don't be hating on McDonald's, Sara, OK?
Before I let you guys go, for our newbies, what's in your group chats?
Marc.
SHORT: At this point, we're all shifting from major trades in baseball with the Dodgers continuing to benefit. And the collective bargaining agreement next year. A lot of baseball being out. And to the shift into football season, getting behind the Redskins.
CORNISH: Already?
SHORT: Yes.
CORNISH: I feel like we just got out of football.
SHORT: Camp has started.
CORNISH: It was forever.
SHORT: No, come on. Camp's just starting.
CORNISH: OK. Ashley.
ETIENNE: We're talking about the reboot of "Project Runway" and its new judges who, by the way, are not in fashion. [07:00:02]
Law Roach in particular, whether or not there is room for humility in the American public these days, whether or not it sells anymore.
CORNISH: He is an image architect, OK. Fascinating to see this come back. Fascinating to see Christian Siriano come back, the O.G., and now and actually acclaimed designer. Send the dresses my way. They're here at cnn.com. Thank you, Christian.
And thank you to the group chat.
Thank you for waking up with us. I'm Audie Cornish, and the headlines are next.
