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Congresswoman Makes History with AI; Democratic Ticket Changeup Energies Some Swing Voters; Trump to Meet with Netanyahu Today; John Bolton is Interviewed about the Presidential Race and the Israeli Situation. Aired 8:30-9a ET
Aired July 26, 2024 - 08:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[08:33:48]
SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: An incredible and triumphant moment in Congress yesterday. Democratic Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton took to the lectern and became the first person to use an AI model of her voice to speak on the House floor.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JENNIFER WEXTON (D-VA): I used to be one of those people who hated the sound of my voice. When my ads came on TV, I would cringe and change the channel. But you truly don't know what you've got till it's gone, because hearing the new AI of my old voice for the first time was music to my ears. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever heard, and I cried tears of joy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIDNER: Watson has been battling a degenerative brain condition that strips her of her ability to speak, but science and technology has come through and she's sounding a heck of a lot more like herself again.
CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is joining us now.
How does this work? This is incredible.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It really is incredible. You know, we talk about AI a lot, and there's lots of cautionary tales out there. But this is an example of how it can provide some real benefit.
So, what she did was she teamed up with this company called ElevenLabs. And what they first did was they basically just took lots of old clips of her speeches and started to feed these into the AI platform, trying to like break it down into these specific units of speech.
[08:35:05] And they were trying to basically get her from the point where you'd - you'd have more of a robotic sounding voice to something that's going to sound much more like her natural voice.
So, listen, first of all, to what it was like before when she was just using sort of standard software.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JENNIFER WEXTON (D-VA): It may shock you to hear this, but this is not my real voice.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GUPTA: All right, so that - that's what it was. And that's - that's been an existing technology for some time. But now you have the AI platform. You've fed in all this material. You're trying to break down the units of speech. And listen to what her real voice sounds like, then followed immediately by the AI platform voice.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JENNIFER WEXTON (D-VA): And can you assure this committee that you will not make any - that - that HUD does not have any current or future plans to eliminate the equal access rule during rule - in rulemaking?
Today, an entire generation has never known life without the protections that exist because of the ADA.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GUPTA: It's pretty impressive, Sara. I mean, you know, I'm playing those all back-to-back so you can really get a sense of it.
But when they take these previous speeches, what they're really doing is breaking it down into specific units of speech known as phonemes. Phonemes. I mean, when you hear speech, it's actually a - these individual units. And they're made up of very, very sort of specific things to the way a person speaks, the way that you speak versus the way that I speak. You can actually sort of start to create a formula for that. And it's a unique accent. It's the intonation. It's the rhythm of someone's voice. To get that right, it's challenging, but that's what these AI platforms can do.
And let me just say again, you know, she tweeted out about this, Representative. AI, there's a lot of cautionary tales out there. Again, it can be scary in so many ways. But you are seeing some of the real benefits, especially in the world of health and medicine. And she talks about it.
SIDNER: It is truly remarkable to see this. And your producers taught me this. Wexton has progressive supranuclear palsy. I hope I got that right. Or PSP. What can you tell us about this disease? I mean she is perfectly functioning, but she just can't get the words out? GUPTA: Yes. This is a - this is a tough disease. It's rare. I mean there's about five people in 100,000 that have this. So, very, very rare, thankfully. But it is a Parkinson-ism like disease. So, there's all sorts of different things that people may have with this.
First of all, within the title of this ailment, "progressive." It's just what it sounds like. This does progress. And typically where Parkinson's disease is diagnosed later in life, this is often diagnosed earlier, in 60's, sometimes even as early as the 40's. She was, I think, 56 last year when she was officially diagnosed.
But you can take a look at the list of symptoms up there. I mean some of them will sound like Parkinson's, loss of balance, slurred speech, difficulty swallowing, weakness of movements, even changes in personality. But, obviously, it's this real - it's the speech thing right now that this particular technology is trying to address.
There is not a known treatment right now for this, no known cure for it, but, you know, they're working on this, as they are with some of these other diseases like Alzheimer's as well.
SIDNER: At least it gives her, her voice back for now.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta, it's always so wonderful to see you. Thank you so much. Appreciate it. Great story.
GUPTA: You got it. Thank you.
SIDNER: All right, Vice President Kamala Harris just got one of the biggest endorsements of her presidential race. The former president and first lady, Barack and Michelle Obama. But is it enough to make a big difference?
CNN's John King spoke with some senior voters in the key swing state of Pennsylvania. Some say they are energized by Harris' run, while others aren't sure it will lure in more voters.
Listen.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Here we go.
JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Mahjong requires focus, patience, a clear strategy to build matching sets of tiles. Changing course deep into the game is risky, but sometimes even experienced players see no choice but to try.
PAMELA AITA, PENNSYLVANIA VOTER: Can I have your joker, please?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. Head's up.
KING: See how easy it is to swap out a candidate in the middle of a game.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. KING (voice over): This game ends in a draw.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nobody wins.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nobody wins.
KING: Nobody wins?
KING (voice over): And a visitor brings up another big change.
KING: Show of hands if you think Harris can win Pennsylvania.
So, you're more optimistic now than you were with President Biden leading the ticket?
There's a head shake.
AITA: No.
KING: tell me why.
AITA: No. I don't think a lot of men will vote for Harris. I just don't. Whether you're Democrat, Republican, whatever, I just don't think the majority of men are ready for a female president.
[08:40:03]
KING: These three hands went up pretty quickly. So, do have more energy and enthusiasm about the campaign now?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my - oh, my God, yes.
KING: One more time, show of hands, who wants to see them debate?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, yes.
KING (voice over): Suddenly, Democrats like were retiree and mahjong instructor Darrell Ann Murphy are bursting with energy. Suddenly they see at least a chance to win battleground Pennsylvania and keep Donald Trump out of the White House.
DARRELL ANN MURPHY, PENNSYLVANIA VOTER: I don't even like to hear the word Trump.
KING: What do you call him?
MURPHY: The monster.
KING (voice over): At this same table five months ago, three of the four thought President Biden was up to the job and they called criticism of his age unfair, but they began to see things that worried them. Biden's debate debacle left no doubt.
MURPHY: From an experience, I know how quickly things can go downhill when you are an older person.
KING (voice over): Now, a new challenge.
MURPHY: You know, she's - she's at the perfect age. She's committed. She's vigorous. And I overwhelmingly, the women I talk to, are, let's go. Let's go.
KING (voice over): Civil rights activist Marvin Boyer organized the black history display at this museum in downtown Easton. The debate changed his mind too. And in Harris, Boyer sees what was missing in Biden.
MARVIN BOYER, PENNSYLVANIA VOTER: You have to be aggressive because he's coming after you. And I think she's up to the challenge in that regard.
KING (voice over): The winner here in North Hampton County tends to be the winner statewide. Every vote matters.
BOYER: It also reenergizes a strong constituency of the Democratic Party, mainly black females. So, I think it's a good thing in that regard.
KING: Do you think America's ready to elect a woman of color its president?
BOYER: There's stills braces (ph) of misogyny in this country in 2024. No question. Well, can we overcome it with this election enough that she can be elected? I hope so.
KING (voice over): Geology professor Laurence Malinconico changed his mind after the debate too. His wife donated to Harris as soon as the news broke. And Malinconico believe students will be much more energized now.
LARRY MALINCONICO, PENNSYLVANIA VOTER: There's an acceptable choice now, when before I think there was real skepticism about the viability of President Biden for another four years.
KING: Think she can win Pennsylvania?
MALINCONICO: I hope so. I think part of it will depend on her choice of vice president.
KING: You think the country's ready for that, a woman of color as president?
MALINCONICO: I hope so. I'm a little nervous about that.
KING: Are you looking forward to Harris debating Trump?
MALINCONICO: Absolutely.
KING: Why?
MALINCONICO: I'm hoping she'll just eat him alive.
KING (voice over): Pat Levin became politically active in the 1940s during FDR's third term.
PAT LEVIN, PENNSYLVANIA VOTER: So, no, I've never seen anything like this.
KING (voice over): She's just a few weeks from 95. Performance, not age, is Levin's test. And she sadly came to see President Biden couldn't pass it anymore.
LEVIN: I love him. I think he's a - has been just wonderful. But he is definitely impaired in terms of his thinking, in terms of his presentation, in terms of his energy.
KING (voice over): Simple advice for Harris.
LEVIN: Get into this - into those swing states and show her enthusiasm and her stamina and her strength, and be able to communicate strongly.
KING (voice over): And one defining issue if anyone seeks her wisdom.
LEVIN: It's democracy. It's our - absolutely our - this might be our last free and fair election if we don't win it. We cannot afford to lose this election, putting American people -
KING: you think Trump is that much of a threat?
KING (voice over): A big twist at crunch time in what, for Pat Levin, will be presidential vote number 19.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIDNER: Pat Levin, sharp as a tack at 95. Amazing.
KING (on camera): Sure is. She sure is.
SIDNER: Amazing. You 're joining us now. What are you looking for sort of beneath the head-to-head number in the horse race?
KING: So, Sara, you already hear this debate, should it be the blue wall states, the rust belt, or should it be the sunbelt? Well, let's give this a few weeks, maybe even until the end of August, after the Democratic Convention, let the polling shake out. And where is Kamala Harris with key voting groups? Number one, does African Americans support go way up? Well then that may be like in 2008 puts North Carolina in play. Does her support among Latinos go up? Then Arizona and Nevada become a little more interesting for the Democrats. Donald Trump is leading there right now. But if you think about Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan, you just had Congressman Kildee earlier on the show saying Democrats - it's much easier for Democrats to get to the White House if they win those three. So, what are you going to look for in Kamala Harris? How's she doing among white voters, especially white men. Hillary Clinton got low 30s. She lost those three states. Joe Biden got closer to 40. He won those three states. And older voters, like those voters in Pennsylvania. Older voters and white men were a key part of Biden's coalition to win those blue wall states when Hillary Clinton lost those states. So, let's give it a bit. Let it shake out. This needs to settle, and then watch those numbers.
SIDNER: You know what, I have to say this about your report. One, to see people playing mahjong, who are outside of the Chinese community, was so cool.
KING: Right.
[08:45:00]
SIDNER: I hope they taught you. And I want to know if Pat Levin, at 95, kicked your butt when she was doing the - what was that, Pilates?
KING: That - that is Pilates. She has it - she's - in the first piece we did five months ago she said Pilates keeps me vertical. So, her instructor, Marissa, made these t-shirts that say "Pilates keeps me vertical." I got one.
She's tough. She is tough. I will tell you. And she's proof, it's not the number, it's performance. It's not the number. It's how you perform. She is - she is sharp as a tack. And think about it, she said she got active politically during FDR's third term.
SIDNER: Yes.
KING: That's the mid 1940s.
SIDNER: Impressive I must say.
John King, thank you so much.
KING: All right.
SIDNER: Great piece.
John.
KING: Thank you.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Political importance of core strength right there with Pilates.
This week CNN Heroes highlights the story of an amateur chef who is using his cooking skills to make a difference for the homeless in Paris. He chronicles his efforts to feed those in need and posts the videos on TikTok, where he has built a community of more than 350,000 followers and more than 5.5 million likes. He told CNN that he is grateful for the support.
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MANU SOLIDAIRE, CNN HERO: I'm not a real chef.
When I wake up in the morning, I'm thinking about, what do you want to make today? OK, kitchen tour. I cook on my kitchen, and it's really, really tiny. I'm alone cooking between four hours and eight hours. I go on the streets with my bike, with all my meals, and I deliver it for free to homeless people.
The first time I go on the street to delivery food, the first reaction was surprised. Some of them look at me like, huh? So, who are you?
The first sentence is not, oh, are you hungry. But the first sentence, it's, I deliver free food for you. Do you need it?
For the Olympic games, the police are moving the homeless people. But the problem is, we can't just hid the poverty of the country without any solution. If I can't find them on the street, if needed, maybe I will take the train to continue to deliver my food.
I know this population since (ph) a lot of years. When I see the smile I leave on the street, thank you for that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: To learn more, you can go to cnnheroes.com. and while you are there, you can nominate your own CNN Hero.
Sara.
SIDNER: I love his enthusiasm.
All right, police in California arrested a man they say started this raging wildfire by pushing a burning car into a canyon. It has now spread to more than 160,000 acres.
And more disturbing details emerge about the officer charged in the death of Sonya Massey, who called police for help and ended up killed by them. We will talk to her brother in the next hour.
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[08:52:16]
SIDNER: This just in to us. Brand new data on the fight against inflation. The PCE, price index, the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge, inflation, it has eased slightly in June, slowing to 2.5 percent for the 12 months ended in June from 2.6 percent the month before. Just a slight move, but a move in the right direction. It is just another piece of good news for the economy and an indication that inflation is inching closer toward the Fed's 2 percent target.
This all comes just days before the Federal Reserve is going to gather for its latest policy meeting. The big question on investor's minds, and anyone that wants to buy a home, will there finally be a rate cut? We will wait and see for that.
John.
BERMAN: So, in just a few hours, former President Donald Trump will meet with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, at Mar-a- Lago. This is their first meeting since Trump left the White House.
CNN's Carlos Suarez is in West Palm Beach, where I understand there is heightened security, Carlos.
CARLOS SUAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's exactly right, John. Good morning.
So, we are expecting pro-Palestinian supporters to come out here and protests the Israeli prime minister's visit with the former president at Trump's property here in Mar-a-Lago. These demonstrations will be the first since these new security measures went into effect around Mar-a-Lago following the attempted assassination of former President Trump. Over the weekend, law enforcement out here, they closed the street to the east of us that runs along the perimeter of Mar-a-Lago, and that road closure will essentially last, we're told, through at least Election Day.
We're told that protesters will be kept on sidewalks on the western part of the bridge that connects the mainland out to Palm Beach. And that really no one is going to be able to get onto Palm Beach itself anywhere near the Mar-a-Lago property. Streets around here, we're told, will go into lockdown an hour before the Israeli prime minister arrives here at Trump's Mar-a-Lago property, which we're told will be around 11:00 in the morning.
Of course, the concern going into today is what is going to happen when some of these pro-Palestinian supporters gather at the same location that we believe supporters of the former president, as well as supporters of Israel, will also gather here later today.
Here now is the sheriff talking about the overall security approach going into today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RIC BRADSHAW, PALM BEACH COUNTY SHERIFF: I know some of the protesters like to shut roads down and, you know, make a statement. That ain't going to happen here. We're not going to allow it. I'm bring two corrections buses. And if you get in the road, that will be the end of your day. It's just that simple.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[08:55:03]
SUAREZ: John and Sara, one final note out here. It is unclear exactly just - behind me, rather, it's unclear just how long these road closures will take place. We're told it is expected to last through the entire meeting, which we believe will be several hours.
Guys.
BERMAN: All right, Carlos Suarez in West Palm Beach. Carlos, thank you very much. Keep us posted.
With us now, former Trump national security adviser, Ambassador John Bolton.
Ambassador, thanks so much for being with us this morning.
Haven't had a chance to talk to you before the huge political shakeup over the last several days. So, I want you to put your political hat on first. How do you see this race having changed in the last six days?
JOHN BOLTON, FORMER TRUMP NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: Well, I think Kamala Harris has closed the gap that was opening up after the disastrous presidential debate for President Biden. I think she's probably back where Biden was at his most recent peak right after his State of the Union message. So, that's pretty significant progress.
But the real question now is, can she sustain that momentum? That's basically a coming home of a lot of voters. And can she define herself before Trump defines her, which they're getting ready to do. So, it's plus so far, but it's still far from clear what's going to happen in November.
BERMAN: We've seen her a lot over the last week. And one of the things we saw yesterday was that the vice president met with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. Our friend, Barak Ravid over at "Axios," is saying that he is hearing, and this is a direct quote that he has from an Israeli official, that Netanyahu was upset about the fact that Harris spoke about the hostage and ceasefire deal as an end to the war, while Israel maintains its position that it will be able to resume the fighting after the deal is implemented. The Israeli official also said Netanyahu was unhappy with the fact that Harris criticize Israel publicly for the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and for killing civilians.
Do you think - how do you think Netanyahu views the difference between now Harris and maybe Biden and also Trump?
BOLTON: Right.
Well, I think Netanyahu should be very worried about the way Harris behaved and what she said. She was very icy in her demeanor, showed strong discipline there, and her words were clear a signal.
Harry Truman should be turning in his grave now because the Democratic Party's very special relationship with Israel, I think, has disappeared. And I think a Harris administration would be a whole different world in - in U.S.-Israeli relations.
I don't necessarily think it means that the - Israel's relations with the Trump administration would be better. Certainly, if you look at Trump's performance in his first term, he was very pro-Israel, I think appropriately so. But - but he's just said -- Trump has just said in recent days, Israel's got to get this war over with. It's got to get the hostages back. It's PR is terrible. Why does Trump care about that? Because he doesn't want to be defending an unpopular Israel. This is a case for him of Israel's interest crossing Donald Trump's interest. And we know what will happen in that case.
BERMAN: How do you feel about now Vice Presidential Nominee J.D. Vance and his positions towards Ukraine?
BOLTON: Well, I think they're very mistaken. And I think they reveal a concept of international relations that's way out of date today and has been for a long time. I think the emerging China-Russia axis is the real news for the United States strategically. China has helped Russia in multiple ways in Russia's war with Ukraine. Vance worries about Taiwan. I'll guarantee you, Russia will help China in multiple ways as China puts pressure on Taiwan. The idea that these are separate wasn't accurate a year ago. It's even less accurate today. And if the U.S. focuses on one place and ignores others, it's ignoring key American strategic interests. Core national interests of the United States to our detriment.
BERMAN: So, you wrote a really interesting op-ed in "The Wall Street Journal" after President Biden announced he will not seek the Democratic nomination any longer. You noted that - that he has now entered into a lame duck presidency, which is what happens either after a second term or when a president loses or chooses not to run again. What do you see as the potential risks really for any president in a period like this?
BOLTON: Well, we've now got 100 day longer lame-duck period than we expected a few weeks ago when Biden was still a candidate. And I think there's now uncertainty on several fronts. You know, even Americans have trouble understanding who's in charge during a transition, presidential transition. And that's particularly true for foreigners who - who don't - who don't understand our system.
But I think our adversaries could well see advantage here. You have an incumbent president on his way out, perhaps focusing on one or two issues, not focusing on bigger pictures. You have the vice president, for understandable reasons, entirely consumed with the campaign.
[09:00:04]
And you have Donald Trump doing whatever he's going to do.
So, the bandwidth pressure, because of the war in the Middle East.
