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Trump Says He'll Hold A Rally In City Where He Was Shot At; Vance Defends "Childless Cat Ladies" Comment Amid Backlash; Barack & Michelle Obama Endorse Harris For President In New Video; Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT), Is Interviewed About Netanyahu Hoping Harris' Remarks Don't Make Ceasefire Deal Harder To Reach; Paris Olympics Kick Off With Floating Parade Down The Seine; Largest California Wildfire Of 2024 Explodes In Size. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired July 26, 2024 - 17:00   ET

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

ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: Justin Timberlake's attorney at a hearing today now says the pop star was not intoxicated when he was arrested last month for DWI. His attorney says police actually made a number of significant errors. According to police, Timberlake failed to stop at a stop sign and also failed to stay in his lane. Timberlake told officers he had one martini that night and followed his friends home.

Coming up Sunday on State of the Union, Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren and Republican Senator Tom Cotton, Minnesota Governor Tim Waltz will also join that Sunday morning at 9:00 Eastern right here on CNN.

Stay tuned. The news continues on CNN. Pamela Brown in next for Wolf Blitzer in the "Situation Room."

[17:00:44]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: Happening now, Donald Trump embraces Benjamin Netanyahu meeting with the Israeli prime minister for the first time since leaving the White House. Trump accusing Vice President Kamala Harris of being, quote, "disrespectful" to Netanyahu by forcefully criticizing Israel's conduct in Gaza.

Also tonight, Trump running mate JD Vance is defending his controversial past remark, portraying Harris and other Democrats as, quote, "childless cat ladies." Vance now accusing the Democratic Party as a whole of being anti-family and anti-child.

Plus, Kamala Harris gets the high powered endorsement she has been waiting for. Barack and Michelle Obama now officially in her corner as the Democrats tighten ranks around their presumptive presidential nominee.

Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. Wolf Blitzer is on assignment. I'm Pamela Brown. And you're in the Situation Room.

Let's get right to the presidential race. Donald Trump just revealed plans to return to the scene of the attempt on his life. Let's go straight to CNN's Kristen Holmes right near Mar-a-Lago following all the new developments on the Republican side. Kristen, Trump says he's planning another rally in Butler.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, Pamela. But we have no idea what exactly this would look like. In fact, he says stay tuned for details. And when I've asked several of his senior advisors if this is on the books, they said that everything is still in the works. But he did just put this on Truth Social, saying he's going to be going back to Butler, Pennsylvania, for a big and beautiful rally honoring the soul of our beloved firefighting hero, Corey, obviously talking about Corey Comperatore, who was killed during that assassination attempt on Donald Trump.

But again, Pamela, we still don't have the details of what this is going to look like. We know that he's expected to be in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, next week on Wednesday.

But I do want to talk about what you also mentioned in your introduction here, which was how Donald Trump spent his day today, because in addition to sending out this Truth Social, he had a very critical meeting at Mar-a-Lago with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel. Remember, these are two men who had not sat down together since Trump was in office. And their relationship had really soured with Donald Trump turning on Netanyahu after Netanyahu congratulated President Joe Biden on winning the 2020 election, essentially saying that Netanyahu was disloyal. But today in that meeting, it seemed like that was just water under the bridge. They did let press in briefly. I was able to ask a few questions, and the two men were interacting like nothing had ever changed between them.

Now, in addition to saying the relationship was fine, that was Donald Trump. They reacted to Kamala Harris's remarks after her meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday, saying that she stood with Israel, but also talking about the atrocities that she had seen in Gaza. They essentially went after her. Well, Donald Trump did at least saying that they were insulting, those comments were insulting to Israel. Benjamin Netanyahu saying he hoped they didn't impact any of the ceasefire talks.

BROWN: And I also want to talk about Trump's running mate, JD Vance, because he is responding to the outrage about his comments from 2021 about childless cat ladies running the country. And he tried to defend himself talking to Megyn Kelly today.

HOLMES: Yes, I mean, his comments have gotten an enormous amount of backlash. And as you said, they were when he was running for Senate in Ohio back in 2021. And today, he tried to say that those were sarcastic remarks, that people were focusing on the sarcasm part not the substance part, and that the substance part was that Democrats were anti-family. So I want to play for you right now what he said in 2021 versus what he said today. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JD VANCE, (R) OHIO SENATE CANDIDATE: We're effectively run in this country via the Democrats, via our corporate oligarchs, by a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they've made.

Having children, becoming a father, becoming a mother, I really do think it changes your perspective in a pretty profound way that this is not about criticizing people who, for various reasons, didn't have kids. This is about criticizing the Democratic Party for becoming anti-family and anti-child.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: So, this is not really where JD Vance wants to be right now as defending comments from 2021. This is supposed to still be his introduction into the country. He is trying to introduce himself as a Republican as Donald Trump's running mate. Remember, he is still relatively unknown. But right now, off to a bit of a rocky start because of these comments as he tries to kind of scramble and backtrack and get back on message here, Pamela.

[17:05:20]

BROWN: All right. Kristen Holmes, thanks. We'll have to see if what he said today will help him get back on message or not.

Now to the Democrats and breaking news on the Harris campaign. Let's bring in CNN's MJ. Lee. You have new reporting, MJ, about what the vice president just said on a call with donors.

MJ LEE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Pam. One thing that Vice President Kamala Harris did this afternoon was call into a meeting of her national finance committee, really taking the opportunity to thank major donors for showing their support over the last couple of days. I just got off the phone with a major donor who was on that call, and they said that there was just palpable enthusiasm on this call as the vice president and top officials took questions as well. It was described as really top officials laying out what needs to happen in the next hundred plus days leading up to election day. Campaign officials really made clear that, of course, a top priority for the vice president is going to be traveling to these key battleground states.

But really it's clear that they're doing a really quick reshuffling of her calendar of events and travels as she is now embracing this new role. I'm also told by this donor that I spoke with that she took one question, took multiple questions, but took a question in particular, I should say, on the issue of reproductive rights. And they summarized her as saying this, her administration will be about freedoms and taking the country forward as opposed to repression and taking the country backwards. That's obviously not surprising at all for the vice president. This has already been a major issue that she has taken the lead on for the administration and the campaign as well.

Another interesting topic of discussion that came up on this call, I am told, is the Democratic National Convention. That is just around the corner now, Pam, as you know, in August in Chicago. And now that it is not President Biden but the vice president that the party is planning this convention around, party officials on this call made clear that they are rethinking everything from the music to guests and entertainment, quickly trying to figure out how this convention should now look now that it is somebody else, again, that is going to be at the top of the ticket now. All of this, of course, coming as Vice President Kamala Harris has had a really busy couple of days and is continuing to rack up major endorsements, including, of course, from the former president. Take a look at that video.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, 44TH U.S. PRESIDENT: Kamala.

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Hello. Hi.

MICHELLE OBAMA, BARACK OBAMA'S WIFE: Hey, there.

HARRIS: Aw. Hi, you're both together. Oh, it's good to hear you both.

M. OBAMA: I can't have this phone call without saying to my girl, Kamala, I am proud of you. This is going to be historic.

B. OBAMA: We call to say, Michelle and I couldn't be prouder to endorse you and to do everything we can to get you through this election and into the Oval office.

HARRIS: Oh, my goodness. Michelle, Barack, this means so much to me. I am looking forward to doing this with the two of you, Doug and I both, and getting out there, being on the road. But most of all, I just want to tell you, the words you have spoken and the friendship that you have given over all these years mean more than I can express. So thank you both.

It means so much. And we're going to have some fun with this, too, aren't we?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEE: And tomorrow, the vice president is set to give virtual remarks at a youth forum. Obviously, we have seen a lot of different ways in which the Harris campaign is trying to do outreach to younger voters. That is going to be an important constituency, and they are trying to find some creative ways to reach that population, Pam.

BROWN: All right. MJ Lee, thanks so much.

Let's get more on all of this with our political experts. There is a lot going on in a summer Friday. I mean, really. Let's start with Trump's announcement today that he's going to go back to Butler and hold a rally there just weeks after the attempted assassination. Bring us into that. You were there.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: I was. Look, I think -- I'm not surprised that he's doing this. Of course, that day, Donald Trump was maybe a couple minutes into his remarks before that shooting happened. And when I talked to a lot of people on the ground, they were really disappointed. A lot of people, some of them, it was their first rally.

Others had driven, you know, 13, 14 hours to go to this rally. And so, I think they recognize that it's important for him to go back to be with the same people who were there, hopefully, you know, some of the same people who were there to honor, as Donald Trump had said, some of the victims who were affected that day, including Corey Comperatore who was killed. But it's still unclear. I mean, I did not know that this was happening. I talked to Donald Trump's team multiple times a day when I talked to them about this after the fact, they said, you know, details are still in motion.

This all came together very quickly. It's not even really together. They're sorting that out. But I do think it's a good move for him, and I think it will be a very strong symbol down the line, especially after, you know, he had said at the convention last week, it feels like weeks ago, it was only last week that he was only going to share that story once he's talked about it more since.

[17:10:18]

BROWN: He was not even going to mention Biden's name. That didn't happen (inaudible).

TREENE: I know. He said it was too personal to tell that story. I do think it's actually cathartic for him to talk about it. That's what his advisors tell me at least. And I think we'll see some of that when told me this event comes together.

BROWN: And of course, the broader political context, Jeff, is this is a week where all the attention is on Kamala Harris, right? Do you think this could also be a ploy to get some of that attention back?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Sure. I mean, look, this is a race. I mean, he certainly feeds off attention, I think. I mean, I'm not surprised he's going back one time. I think one time is fine.

I mean, I think if we're in September and October and he's going back and back again to Butler County, like, that may be a little more suspect, he doesn't need to go there electorally. That is a very strong Trump country without a doubt. But I think as a message point, he's certainly free to go to western Pennsylvania. That's a place he needs to win.

But look, this has been a pretty extraordinary period. For much of the last month, Donald Trump has been out of the spotlight or at least not the center of the spotlight for more than I can recall in much of the last nine years. So this is something that he wants to focus this race back on him. But look, I think it's completely appropriate for him to go one time. We'll see if it's more than that.

BROWN: Yes. And this also comes as a Secret Service wants to move his rallies indoors. What do you think of this move, Scott?

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It's part of his narrative now. He was nearly assassinated. It's one of the biggest political stories in American history, you know, that we had a former president nearly assassinated during his attempt to get back into the Oval Office, which a campaign which itself was an unprecedented move. But also, it's Pennsylvania, baby. He who wins Pennsylvania or she may probably will be the next president. So, you know, going back to this rally site, I think is an interesting move.

But I would expect him to be all over Pennsylvania for the rest of the campaign as they attempt to put that state in the Republican column, if they do, near impossible to beat him.

BROWN: Right. And of course, there was that image of Trump defiantly raising his fists in the air, you know, blood on his ear, saying, fight, fight, fight. How should the campaign sort of handle this? And of course, Pennsylvania is very important to Harris as well. I mean, you got to win Pennsylvania.

JENNINGS: Yes.

KAREN FINNEY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It is. Look, I think you let him have that, I agree. I mean, I would imagine, I hope it is healing for that community. But I think it also reminds people that the kindler, gentler Donald Trump lasted maybe 48 hours. And he's even said the other day, like, I'm not going to be nice.

You don't mind if I'm not nice. The sort of after effect that we had thought, similar to the pivot that we waited for four years, just really didn't come. And look, Kamala has enough of her own momentum that they don't need to worry about that and really need to continue to focus, again, she's got a VP to select, we've got a convention coming up. And the momentum that we've seen this week, just the organic momentum has really been exciting.

BROWN: So let's talk about JD Vance, of course, Trump's VP pick. And Kristen laid out his attempt to defend his comments about, you know, women without kids being cat ladies. As Kristen said, he doesn't want to be talking about his 2021 comments. He wants to move the page. Do you think he did that today with saying that the Democratic Party is, you know, anti-child and anti-family?

ZELENY: No, I think he, by addressing it and weighing in more, I think it's going to give it some more life. Look, this election is not going to be decided by his comments on cat ladies, but it does sort of fuel the excitement on the other side. So I think this is one of those sort of, like, rare things where both sides are fine to keep talking about it. But I think that -- what I was sort of struck by and making some calls around today in the Democratic vetting process going on right now, you can be sure that every sort of interview and everything is being looked at a little more carefully because of this 2021 interview of JD Vance.

Whatever Democrats may have set out there about Donald Trump or perhaps an off color remark or whatnot, all of those would like to be known. I don't know if we know if this was known by the Trump campaign before that, like this comment, I don't know if it would have mattered or not, but just a reminder that anything you say in a previous life exists in a current life if you're a vice president.

BROWN: Yes. But, you know, Karen --

ZELENY: Vice presidential candidate.

FINNEY: Yes.

BROWN: Yes, exactly.

FINNEY: In your life, I mean, yes, be prepared to defend everything and anything you've ever said, tweeted, you know, uttered, you name it.

BROWN: Right.

FINNEY: Yes.

BROWN: And we know that Donald Trump struggles with getting female voters, right? And you have to wonder, JD Vance's comments also today opened -- opens up the lane --

FINNEY: Yes.

BROWN: -- even more for Kamala Harris, who has already been seizing on his past comments and even took aim on him -- at him yesterday about, you know, World IVF Day, saying that "True to form, JD Vance is marking World IVF day by day insulting couples struggling with infertility. It goes on.

[17:15:11]

FINNEY: Yes.

BROWN: What do you think?

FINNEY: Well, as the chairwoman of childless dog women for Kamala Harris, which I have tweeted, you can find me on Twitter. Look, it's so insulting. Even the correction is insulting because the Democratic Party, whether you have children or not, because the other part of the explanation that he gave was about somehow if you don't have children, you don't have skin in the game or you don't understand. I don't have children, but I have many children in my life who I love dearly. And I think about them in terms of policy decisions.

And, you know, it is the Democratic Party, again on IVF, it was Republicans who blocked the vote to protect the right to IVF. Not to mention when we talk about the child tax credit, when we talk about reducing child poverty, when we talk about the things that help children learn, grow and thrive and help maternal mortality rates and to help women conceive and have children, I think it's just a shameful stereotype of a comment.

JENNINGS: Well, on the child tax credit, Vance, there was some video of him on earth today talking about how we should give tax advantages to people who have children, which is literally the child tax credit. The Democrats attacked him today in what was bizarre --

FINNEY: Nothing of those, Scott.

JENNINGS: Yes, they did. FINNEY: Not for that part of the comment.

JENNINGS: No, no, they actually did.

FINNEY: No.

JENNINGS: It's been all over the news today. But we've reached the part of the JD Vance news cycle where, you know, it's like JD Vance turned me into a dude. I mean, you know, I don't care about this today because more important things have been unearthed. Kamala Harris, by this very network, has been unearthed to be a supporter of defund the police and says more police doesn't make us more safe. To me, it's more relevant what the actual presidential candidate for one of the two major tickets has said.

I would encourage everyone to look at it on cnn.com. This is vital information. We've been talking about JD Vance all week. He's running for vice president, she's running for president. We don't know what else might be out there on her.

So I think if you want to talk about past comments that people have made before they got onto presidential tickets, it's game on. And Harris is going to find herself in the spotlight today and in the next few days.

BROWN: What do you think?

FINNEY: Well, she was actually running for president when she made those comments. And, look --

JENNINGS: No, she wasn't. It was June of 2021.

FINNEY: It was 20 --

TREENE: It was, I think, before -- just before.

BROWN: My producer will check.

FINNEY: I think she had just --

BROWN: Yes.

FINNEY: Well, anyway, point being, she did also talk about that in 2019 when she was running for president. Look, I think a couple of things. Number one, she has a record now as vice president as part of the Biden-Harris administration. And if you look at the fulsomeness of what she's talked about, it's not an either or, and part of what we're talking about with defund the police was not just about not having public safety. It was about how do we make sure that our police officers have the resources they need to serve the communities where they're policing?

Like the horrible incident we just saw in Illinois where a black woman was shot through the eye in her own home. She had called the police. Why? Because this officer apparently thought she was threatening as she was putting down a pot of water. So we still have very serious problems between how communities of color are policed and how we make sure that our police officers have the resources that they need to do a better job of keeping all of us safe.

BROWN: To be clear, though, those comments at the time, what KFILE unearthed was about moving some of the resources from police into other parts of the community. That is what was unearthed by KFILE.

FINNEY: Like, how do we help people who have -- when they respond to mental health calls instead of where we've seen incidents where people with mental health issues have been shot, rather than having someone help deescalate.

BROWN: OK, we're going to continue this conversation. Everyone stand by. Don't go anywhere, because we do have a lot more to discuss, especially the political power. That is another topic, the political power the Obamas bring to the Harris campaign now that they've officially endorsed the vice president. And then later, an act of sabotage disrupts travel as the Paris Olympics get underway. You're in the Situation Room.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:23:03]

BROWN: And we are back with our political experts as Vice President Kamala Harris just got one of her biggest endorsements yet from Barack and Michelle Obama, the former first couple calling Harris with the news. The moment, captured on video.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

B. OBAMA: We call to say Michelle and I couldn't be prouder to endorse you and to do everything we can to get you through this election and into the Oval office.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: All right. So, here it happens. Jeff, you've been reporting this week they were going to, they are going to. The video was released today. Put this into context for us and just how significant it is.

ZELENY: Such an organic moment there on the phone.

BROWN: Was it organic?

ZELENY: The camera rolling.

BROWN: It wasn't contrived at all.

ZELENY: The moment was almost as organic --

BROWN: Yes.

ZELENY: -- as the endorsement. Of course, this was happening.

BROWN: Was it just one phone call, do you know?

ZELENY: It'd be a much unclear.

BROWN: OK.

ZELENY: It'd be a much bigger deal, obviously, news wise if the phone call did not come. But look, this is the really represents the bookend of her astonishing week in terms of consolidating support of the Democratic Party. I mean, it has been a whirlwind. There's no open convention, there's no dissent. But just hearing his voice there, thinking about today on July 27, I was thinking back to 20 years ago today in Boston, his keynote convention at the Democratic National Convention when an Illinois state senator before he was in the U.S. Senate delivered a speech introducing himself to the country.

Let's take a listen to that and see what can happen with the change of a speech.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

B. OBAMA: The pundits, the pundits like to slice and dice our country into red states and blue states, red states for Republicans, blue states for Democrats. But I've got news for them, too. We worship an awesome God in the blue states and we don't like federal agents poking around in our libraries in the red states. We coach little league in the blue states. And yes, we've got some gay friends in the red states.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: So that, of course, was a keynote speech at John Kerry's Democratic convention, Senator Obama, state Senator Obama would go on to win his U.S. Senate race later that year.

[17:25:08]

But look, just a thought of what a moment in history some campaigns can be. But Vice President Harris now is in a historic race of her own. And if she would win in November, she would certainly be a piece of history. But all that said, the Obama endorsement certainly helps, it helps modify things.

I think the most important voice on that phone call was Michelle Obama, more than Barack Obama. How much she gets involved in the rest of the campaign will certainly be interesting. I think she could be a big help for her.

BROWN: Yes, that's an interesting point.

FINNEY: Yes.

BROWN: Jeff, notes, you know, in terms of the Obama coalition coming and, you know, turning it into votes --

FINNEY: Yes.

BROWN: -- for Kamala remains to be seen. But in the past, that hasn't really happened. I mean, you look at Hillary Clinton, right, 2016.

FINNEY: It was -- well, it was different. I mean, she was not able -- part of the challenge, she was not able to put together the Obama coalition. But what I would say is in 2024, that coalition looks different. I mean, even some of the people who voted for Obama for the first time now have children of their own, which is crazy to think about.

But no, look, I hope this also settles down any idea that Michelle Obama is actually going to run for president, because I know that's been out there. Look, I think Kamala Harris is going to create her own coalition, and that's part of what I'm sure the campaign is looking at right now. What does the Harris coalition look like? They're young, they're diverse. Where are they in this country?

I mean, we have so many states where the demographics have been shifting. And I think that's what's one of the things that's going to be exciting to see, not just the Obama -- we're going to be talking about what was the Harris 2024 coalition and what does that do? Do they turn out like we hope they will? And what does that do to the landscape in 2024?

BROWN: I'm just listening to you, but then I see Scott's facial expression.

FINNEY: I know. He loves to make faces.

BROWN: So, I mean, he makes face. He's the king of those.

JENNINGS: I mean, contrived, cringey phone call.

BROWN: Well, I'll be one -- OK.

FINNEY: Have you been in politics? Come on.

JENNINGS: I mean, sort of sums up the Kamala Harris brand, right? Just contrived and cringey. I mean, the phone call she had with Biden the other day contrived, cringey. It's fine. Of course they're going to be for her.

I mean, they're the ones who kick Biden out in the first place. So, I guess it only makes sense they'll now be for his replacement. And I'm not surprised to see him out there. They campaign every cycle and they're big stars, and they'll help her try to rebuild that coalition that he had when he won.

BROWN: I have to let you respond.

JENNINGS: I didn't attack Karen. She's not contrived or cringe. She's my friend.

FINNEY: Thank you, Scott.

BROWN: By the way, Van Jones, I had him on the other day.

FINNEY: Yes. BROWN: And he did say she went from cringey to cool. Well, how do you see it, Karen?

FINNEY: You know what, here's something I will say. So many of us have not -- I have been, but a lot of folks have not actually been paying attention to what she's been doing. We've seen the videos here and there, the mashups. But for the reporters who have actually covered her day to day over the last year and a half in particular or since 2022, when she really came on strong in the midterm elections and she's been on the campaign trail, they're not surprised by this strong campaigner that we've been seeing this week. And, yes, look, the cool factor that we're talking about the youth vote and reaching out to you.

I mean, you don't actually even need to do much. I think more of it is let them do what they're doing because young voters and young people are running with it from the TikTok videos to, I'm going to say it wrong, being brat to the chartreuse to, you know, you name it. They're doing it -- they're doing it for themselves and that's culture.

JENNINGS: Are you saying brat? For this whole time, I thought it was brats. I was like, I would literally want to know what's --

BROWN: Scott, cringey.

FINNEY: Oh, my God, cringey.

BROWN: Talk about cringey. Oh my God.

JENNINGS: I didn't know. I didn't know I've got my mustard and relish out, I'm like, I'm having a brat summer in the Jennings household.

BROWN: Oh, my God. All right.

FINNEY: No, no.

BROWN: We're going to leave that cringe over there. So, I mean, I have to ask, as someone who talks to the Trump campaign multiple times a day, how are they looking at this? I mean, they wanted desperately Joe Biden to stay in this race, right? They built their entire campaign around beating Joe Biden. They really felt strongly if they could.

TREENE: Especially after the debate.

BROWN: Especially after the debate and after -- I mean, at the RNC, they were, like, almost arrogant, right, about their chances.

TREENE: Right.

BROWN: How are they feeling now and how are they trying to define Harris?

TREENE: There's just so much uncertainty. And you're totally right. I mean, it's interesting if you actually look back and, I mean, I've been covering Trump's campaign from the get go, and very closely, they largely ignored Kamala Harris throughout that entire campaign. Their entire campaign playbook has been, or what was about Joe Biden, an 81- year-old man that increasingly became unpopular throughout the 2024 campaign. Now, they're obviously reevaluating that.

And I do think there is, when I talk to Trump's team, they're still unsure of what the best lines of attack are. Of course, on Wednesday, we saw Donald Trump go to North Carolina. It was the first rally that held since Biden ended his campaign and Harris became the apparent heir of the Democratic nomination. And you heard him test drive a lot of things. He's focusing a lot on the border.

[17:30:02]

He's focusing a lot on -- he actually went after abortion a lot, which I found very interesting. But, you know, that's where he's going. I'm curious to see if the tone will change. I think it might, because, again, they're not totally sure right now what the best way to attack her is. And I do think we're going to continue to see them kind of test things out and see how they play in the polls and end with their audiences.

ZELENY: I mean, the Trump campaign was very successful in one thing, sort of caricaturing Joe Biden as very feeble. And I would argue that they also drove him out of the race. I mean, they were very successful at that. Now it's been a moment of real uncertainty. I mean, the Trump campaign has been built so much differently this time than 2016 or 2020. You know, with a true professional campaign operation. They're sort of finding their way on this. But look, we are not going to know how this settles out for a few weeks once people sort of get a sense of this new race with the ads and other things. So we are in for Sunday marks 100 days until Election Day, what a time to be alive.

BROWN: Wow. What a time. All right, thanks to you all so much. We appreciate it. Up next, the Israeli prime minister meets with Donald Trump in Mar-a-Lago. And they both have something to say about yesterday's forceful remarks from Vice President Kamala Harris. The ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee is here to weigh in, up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:35:45]

BROWN: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he would hope that forceful comments from Vice President Kamala Harris do not harm the hostage and ceasefire deal. After the two met yesterday, she strongly criticized Israel's conduct in its war against Gaza. And today, while meeting with Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago, Netanyahu said a ceasefire deal requires no daylight between Israel and the United States. Democratic Congressman Jim Himes of Connecticut is here, and he is the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee. Congressman, great to have you on. So you heard the Vice President's remarks yesterday. Do you think they would have any impact on the hostage and ceasefire negotiations?

REP. JIM HIMES (D-CT): Hard to say. You know, I certainly hope that they do. It is well past time for this ceasefire deal to be agreed to. Too many people are dying. Too many hostages have spent too much time in the tunnels of Gaza. And it is time. You know, I was disheartened to hear the intensity of the Prime Minister's speech this past week. I was dismayed to hear no real vision for the future of the Palestinian people. And so I think it's time for him to take some risks and to actually get this deal arranged so that the hostages can be freed and so that we can hopefully do a reset on the way that this justified, absolutely justified war is nonetheless being undertaken.

BROWN: So I just want to go back because you said, it's hard to say. Do you have some concern, though, that -- that her remarks yesterday could have potentially, you know, upended what is already very tenuous, delicate negotiations at play here? Given what we just saw from Netanyahu today?

HIMES: I don't, I don't. Look, Netanyahu, over the course of the last six months, has completely ignored the President of the United States. And we know that because, you know, we've heard that from the President himself on a number of occasions. So I really do not believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu cares too much about the views of the current Vice President. And, you know, sadly, with this particular Prime Minister, you know, an enormously partisan individual, my guess is that pretty much as soon as the Vice President said whatever it was she said in that private meeting that he probably dismissed it in his own mind.

BROWN: Well, Israel, as you know, is a huge U.S. ally, but a huge swath of the Democratic Party is unhappy with how Netanyahu is handling the war in Gaza. This was a huge political problem for Biden. How should Harris navigate this going forward?

HIMES: Well, you know, I think there's actually a pretty good chance, if the polls in Israel are to believed, that the Israeli electorate will have its say with Prime Minister Netanyahu and his very far extremist right wing coalition. Now, it's not my job to comment on the politics of -- of -- of another democratic country, but obviously that coalition, the way it's undertaken the war in Gaza, at best, turning of a blind eye to the violence in the West Bank, has actually dramatically complicated the situation in the Middle East, you know.

And worst of all, of course, you know, while the Prime Minister says he wants to militarily wipe out Hamas and maybe that is or is not possible, that's not enough. Hamas is, apart from being an appalling terrorist group, drawing on the fact that the Palestinian people have not had hope for a very long time. So in addition to doing the deal, it's incumbent on the Prime Minister to start talking about the future. I would hope it would be a two-state solution. Sadly, I don't believe that will be the case. But as long as the Prime Minister, his entire vision consists of the two words that he used in the speech, which was deradicalization and demilitarization. That is not something that is going to get the vast bulk of millions of Palestinians inspired to move towards peace.

BROWN: All right, before we let you go, I want to ask you about what's transpired in your party just over the last week, right? I mean, you had called on President Biden to drop out of the race, saying that Biden put chances of a Democratic victory at risk. Where is that risk level now with Harris as the presumptive nominee? And have you spoken to Biden since he dropped out?

[17:40:08]

HIMES: I have not spoken to him. And what I can tell you is, you know, I was in Washington all this week with my colleagues, almost to a person, every single one of my Democratic colleagues, all of whom are on the ballot in November. It was as though 100 pound weight had been lifted from their shoulders. And, you know, when I first made the call to ask the President to step aside, a lot of people had legitimate worries that chaos would ensue, right?

And of course, the opposite has happened. In a matter of 48 hours, you had dramatic alignment around Vice President Harris. You had an immense amount of money come in. I'm seeing excitement on the part of young people, on the part of African Americans that I have not sensed in years. So we've got a long way to go before this election. But I think that this, from the standpoint of winning in November, has worked out just about as good as -- as we might have -- as well as we might have hoped.

BROWN: All right, Democratic Congressman Jim Himes, thank you.

And just ahead --

HIMES: Thank you very much.

BROWN: -- we're going to go live to Paris where the Olympic Games are officially underway after an opening ceremony unlike any other. We'll be right back.

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[17:45:19]

BROWN: The Paris Olympics are underway tonight after a spectacular floating parade through the heart of the city, showcasing thousands of athletes during an opening ceremony unlike any other. CNN's sports analyst Christine Brennan is joining us live from Paris. Christine, how did the opening ceremonies go? Any big surprises?

CHRISTINE BRENNAN, CNN SPORTS ANALYST: Well, first of all, Pam, the next Olympics, which will be Los Angeles for the Summer Olympics in four years, I think they're going to have to hold their opening ceremonies on the Moon or maybe Saturn or something, because maybe it's time to retire the opening ceremony completely. Paris did everything. This -- this went on for four hours, of course, the Seine, one of the most famous rivers in the world, maybe the most famous. Some of the most famous buildings and landmarks that so many tourists and -- and people from around the world know about, including the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, the Arc de Triomphe, on and on it goes. And it just went on and on with the most amazing musical acts, including Lady Gaga, Celine Dion, but also just so many kind of wonderful, bizarre French things, since with the -- I think read a -- people will be reading a lot about.

This was very French. And also just some of the greatest athletes ever, all on boats, you know, and more and more people coming along on boats, including Carl Lewis and Nadia Comaneci, Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams at the end with the flame. I mean, I've -- I've never seen anything, I've covered the Olympics a long time, as, you know, never seen anything like it. It was spectacular, and it ended with a hot air balloon and the flame going up into the air. I mean, just when you thought you'd seen it all, they threw in a few more tricks at the very end.

BROWN: Wow. They -- they really -- they outdid themselves it sounds like. Sad I wasn't there. But, you know, you had a lot of people there at the opening ceremonies. And that's notable given these big disruptions to the Olympics. With French officials saying several high speed rail lines were sabotaged. How has this impacted the games?

BRENNAN: There are potentially 800,000 fans, spectators who were impacted by this or will be through the weekend, especially Eurostar, the -- the major train route from London into France, and, of course, all -- all around the country of France itself. And when you think, Pamela, all the security, all the -- all the precautions, and then there was something like this that did happen. Thankfully, it was not seen as -- as -- well, no one was injured as far as we know, it did disrupt things, and it will continue to disrupt.

And I think the big takeaway will be it will be a footnote, hopefully only a footnote, but it will be part of the story of Paris's first day of the Olympic Games. And that, of course, is exactly what they did not want to have happen. Thankfully, again, it appears no one was hurt and certainly hope -- hopefully, the games will go on now without too many glitches.

BROWN: So as competition begins, what events are you keeping an eye on?

BRENNAN: Right off the bat. In about 12 hours, Katie Ledecky, one of the greatest of all time, the greatest female swimmer of all time, will -- will dive in for the 400 freestyle. That's the event she won in Rio in 2016. She was second in Tokyo three years ago. And now all the young people that looked up to her, now they're competing against her. She may well win the bronze, but that is no disappointment because Katie's best events are coming up later, the 800 and the 1,500 later in the week.

BROWN: All right, Christine Brennan, thank you so much. Hope you can get some rest now. It is late there in Paris after a very long day. Thanks so much.

[17:48:46]

And coming up, firefighters in California are battling the state's largest blaze of the year. Why officials are blaming an alleged arsonist and a flaming car for the disaster.

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[17:53:21] BROWN: In California, the state's largest wildfire of 2024 is exploding in size. Officials say the blast is zero percent contained and has already burned more than 178,000 acres. CNN's Camila Bernal is right near the burn zone in Butte County, California. What kind of conditions are firefighters facing there, Camila?

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Pam. So just triple digit temperatures, very dry terrain. And that really helped explode the flames and the fire. So much so that at the beginning of this fire it was spreading at about 50 football fields per minute. And authorities say that unfortunately, a 42-year-old man was responsible for this fire. They say that there are witnesses who saw him pushing a burning car down an embarkment about 60 feet.

And so what they're saying now is that they will continue this investigation and that now they have firefighters working around the clock, more than 1,600 personnel here and firefighters even telling me, you know, that many of them were working 48 hours shifts to try to control these flames. What was interesting about this fire is that the firefighters were telling me that they could not get to some of these flames. So it was helping the spread of the fire.

They say this is a challenging fire. That's how Cal Fire is describing it. And they're saying that they are getting ready for a very difficult fire season. Take a listen to what they told me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAPT. DAN COLLINS, CAL FIRE PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER: It is concerning that we're having these larger fires earlier in the season. Based on my experience, if we're having big fires like this in July and August, we may have bigger fires come the fall as the fuels get drier and the winds start to pick up.

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[17:55:11]

BERNAL: And these conditions are truly affecting a large portion of the western region of the United States. The largest fire burning right now in eastern Oregon with thousands of acres burned, at least three structures there destroyed and dozens others. Now, it's very difficult to come back to an area or to a structure or to a home that looks like what you see here behind me. And it's especially difficult for the people of this county, Butte County, because they lived through the deadliest fire in California history when 85 people died here in 2018. So a lot of these people reliving this all over again, it is traumatic for many in this community, Pam.

BROWN: Understandably. Camila Bernal, thank you so much.

And coming up, more on Donald Trump's plans to return to the city where he was nearly assassinated. Stay with us. You're in The Situation Room.

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