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Iowa's Strict 6-Week Abortion Ban Takes Effect; California's Park Fire Burns 360K-Plus Acres, Destroys 100 Structures; People In Venezuela Protest Country's Election Results; Olympics Day 3: Biles Will Compete, No Swimming In The Seine; Hype Man Flavor Flav Talks Women's Water Polo. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired July 29, 2024 - 14:30   ET

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

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[14:32:29]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: New today, one of the strictest abortion laws in the country is now in effect in Iowa. It prevents nearly all abortions after about six weeks after a fetal heartbeat can be detected. That's also before many women even know that they're pregnant.

Iowa joins a growing list of more than a dozen states, sharply curving abortion access after the Supreme Court overturned Roe versus Wade two years ago,

CNN's Meg Tirrell joins us now with more on this new law.

So, Meg, what exactly is in the law and what does it mean for women living in Iowa?

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris, the law prohibits most abortions after cardiac activity has been detected on an ultrasound. And as you said, that's usually around six weeks of pregnancy. And oftentimes before many people know that they are pregnant.

Now there are some rare exceptions for this, including in cases of rape or incest that are reported to authorities, in cases of a fatal fetal abnormalities.

So a circumstance where the fetus has a disorder or disease that makes it unlikely for them to survive. Miscarriage care and preserving the life of the person who's pregnant.

But advocates for abortion access point out these can be pretty rare exceptions to an abortion law. We know that in 2023 there we're about 4,200 abortions that we're clinician provided in Iowa.

That's from the Guttmacher Institute, which is a research group that supports access to abortion. Most of those were for people who lived in Iowa.

But there we're some people who traveled from other states, including from Nebraska, which has a 12-week law, into Iowa in order to get access.

Iowa becomes the fourth state with a ban at about six weeks, joining Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. In addition to 14 states that have banned abortion almost completely with rare exceptions.

Now, we know that the impact of a six-week ban can be pretty severe, both for people accessing abortion in that state and even for the region. We've seen that with Florida. That really changed abortion access in the south.

If we want an example of what happens to people in the state, we can look to South Carolina, which implemented a six-week ban last August. There, the Guttmacher Institute tells us that abortions declined by 71 percent after that August 2023 law, just in the next month in September.

This is likely to cause a lot of people to travel out of state. In Illinois already, we have seen a lot of out of patient - out-of-state patients traveling into the state to access abortion. It's expected that's going to continue even more so as a result of Iowa's law.

[14:35:01]

It also means, some experts say, that some people won't be able to travel out of Iowa and will have to carry pregnancies that they didn't intend -- guys?

SANCHEZ: Meg Tirrell, thank you so much for that update.

Brianna?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Now to some of the other headlines that we're watching this hour.

We're just learning that two children who we're attacked in a mass stabbing today in the United Kingdom have died and nine other children have been hospitalized with stab wounds.

Police say a 17-year-old suspect carried out the attack at a Taylor Swift-themed yoga event for children at a dance school near Liverpool.

The suspect is under arrest. Police say the attack does not appear to be terror-related, but the motive at this point is unclear.

Also, McDonald's is reporting today that it's getting hit hard by inflation. The fast-food chain reporting weaker-than-expected second- quarter earnings, marking the first drop in sales from McDonald's since 2020.

With fewer customers eating out, McDonald's is trying to lure them back with more discounts like the $5 value meals that it launched last month.

And Alma Powell, the widow of the late secretary of state and retired general, Colin Powell, has died. She was 86. The Powells were married for nearly 60 years. In what was believed to be Colin Powell's final interview in July of 2021, he told journalist, Bob Woodward, that his wife was the greatest person he'd ever known.

She is survived by the couple's three children who called their mother the "grounding force of our family."

Boris?

SANCHEZ: So the man accused of starting the massive Park Fire in northern California is expected to make his first court appearance today.

Since this erupted last week, it's destroyed more than 100 structures and burned there more than 360,000 acres. That's an area bigger than the city of Phoenix.

Right now, firefighters are tracking the weather to see if conditions might improve and help give them a hand in controlling the flames.

CNN's Camila Bernal is live for us on the scene in Butte County.

Camila, what are you seeing there?

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Boris. Just thousands and thousands of acres that look a lot like what you see here behind me, just destruction. It's really heartbreaking to see.

And fire officials say that the center of this fire is still very active. It's still in areas that are hard to reach. There's very steep terrain giving firefighters a little bit of difficulty when fighting these flames.

But there are two things that have really helped over the weekend. One, better weather conditions and, two, more resources. We now have about 5,000 people here battling this fire.

And what I was told was that they we're able to have this direct aggressive attack on those flames to bring up that containment number. Because, look, over the last couple of days, this fire truly exploded in size. These flames were very, very fast, not giving people a lot of time to evacuate.

Take a listen to what some of these residents told us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM YOUNG, TAHAMA COUNTY RESIDENT: We get to the highway and it is burning on both sides for 10 miles. It was driving through an inferno.

SELENA ROSS, TAHAMA COUNTY RESIDENT: I did not think it was going to make it this far out. I thought for sure that they would get a hold of it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where do we go?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERNAL: And a lot of the firefighters, the people that are here, they're very aware of what the people of Butte County have lived. This is a county that also went through the deadliest fire in California history in 2018.

So they know there is trauma, there is flashbacks when you smell smoke, when you see what this fire can do. A lot of people truly suffer from having to live this over and over again.

So officials really trying to get people safely back into their homes. But the reality is that this fire is still burning and it's still going to take a lot of time to get more control of the flames as, at the moment, it's only 12 percent contained -- Boris?

SANCHEZ: Camila Bernal, live for us on the scene in Butte County, thank you so much.

[14:38:54]

Coming up, President Nicolas Maduro formally declaring himself the winner of the Venezuelan election but there was a growing global outcry about the results, including in the United States. We'll take you live to Caracas, next.

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[14:43:42]

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KEILAR: That is the sound of banging pots echoing across Venezuela there in Caracas as people are protesting the results of the country's presidential election.

Moments ago, Venezuela's longtime strongman leader, Nicolas Maduro, was formally announced as the winner of Sunday's vote amid allegations of fraud and counting irregularities.

But the opposition is rejecting Maduros purported win in favor of its candidate.

SANCHEZ: Yes, right now, the United States and other nations are calling on the Venezuelan government to release its election data for the sake of transparency.

CNN En Espanol anchor, Alejandra Oraa, joins us now live from Caracas.

Alejandra, walk us through this controversy and why these election results are being disputed?

ALEJANDRA ORAA, CNN EN ESPANOL ANCHOR: Hi, Boris. Hi, Brianna. Hello from Caracas.

And, yes, Venezuela woke up with a defeating silence that very soon turned into protest, into pots and pans, or how they know them here in Venezuela, (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE), which is a way to process for things in Latin America.

Because Venezuelans are unable to comprehend last night results. To put it in perspective, first of all, no previous poll before the election gave Nicolas Maduro a 7 percent lead in the election.

[14:45:05]

Last night, on a Monday, at 12:00 at midnight, they announced that Nicolas Maduro had won the presidential election by 51.2 percent, and Mundo Ruthia, which was the opposition candidate, had won 44.2. That 7 percent difference is a big deal here in Venezuela because nobody saw that as a possibility before.

And why is this so difficult to understand in Venezuela? Let me give you an idea.

In comparison to other elections in Latin America or, for example, the United States, we don't see a real-time count of devotes. We cannot go to a Web site or to a specific institution where we can see the votes happening state by state, where we can see a candidate winning a certain state.

Hear, the announcement just comes one time. The person in charge of that institution, they say that the announcement or the winner is irreversible and that's what happened.

Leaving the opposition right now saying that day are not in agreement with that decision, that they do not lose to that 7 percent that they said.

And as a matter of fact, that they have proof that they won by 70 percent, which the government says that's not possible.

And that's the reason why, right now, we see a lot of protests and a lot of things heating up in the streets of Caracas and actually the rest of it as well.

KEILAR: Yes, Alejandra, there's just a stunning lack -- I mean, maybe not for Venezuela -- but I know there was hope that maybe there wouldn't be just this stunning lack of transparency.

Is -- as you said, there was this announcement that this is irreversible. But is there anything that can be done or complaints that the opposition can level here?

ORAA: Well, just to give you an idea of how complicated things have become in the last few hours, that institution, Consejo National Electoral, or CNE, as we know them in Venezuela, they already proclaimed Nicolas Maduro as president today at 12:00 in the afternoon. But what's key, what's important, first of all, Maria Corina Machado,

which is the leader of the opposition, who was not able to run for president and -- started running for president, Mundo Gonzalez Urrutia, they're asking to count the ballots one by one. That's one of the options.

And also the international presence is very important to request, to have a transparence in this process.

For example, the Carter Center, as well as other countries, they're requesting transparency in the results. They're requesting to post the ballots and to post the information on the Web site. So we'll see what's going to happen in a few hours.

Another example of the importance also of the international support is that the United States is watching very closely what's happening in the election. Since 2015, the U.S. has had a lot of problems, diplomatic issues with Venezuela.

During the Obama administration, they declared Venezuela a national threat to democracy, to the U.S.

In 2017, the Biden -- 2017, they also gave some sanctions to specific members of the government. And in 2019, we gave huge economic sanctions to the country of Venezuela.

So the U.S. plays a key role on these presidential elections.

Back to you.

SANCHEZ: Just something to highlight from what Alejandra reported, the actual leading opposition figure, the leading member of that party, was outlawed from running.

KEILAR: Right.

SANCHEZ: It was made illegal for her to run for the presidency. It gives you a glimpse --

ORAA: Yes.

SANCHEZ: -- into that electoral process.

Alejandro Oraa, from Caracas. That's a story to continue watching. Thank you so much.

So when it's time to cheer on Team USA, the man with a clock, hanging around his neck is ready. CNN spoke with a legendary water polo fan, Flavor Flav, about his hype man status. That story is next.

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[14:53:11]

KEILAR: Happening now, day three of the Summer Olympics in Paris. And Simone Biles says she will compete as she fights through a leg injury. She gave fans quite a scare after appearing with a heavily taped ankle

and calf after an awkward landing during warm-ups.

CNN's Coy Wire is in Paris for us.

Coy, the rain that drenched the opening ceremony may be the reason the triathlon training was sort of canceled for the second day. Tell us about this.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes, you're exactly right, Brianna. This morning, the day before the first triathlon competition, organizers and reps. of world triathlon canceled swimming practice in the Seine for a second straight day.

The water quality tests showed bacteria levels too high. That heavy rain in Paris overwhelming the city's sewage system, sending untreated water with high levels of E. coli floating into the river.

Organizers say that with the higher temperatures and sunshine in the forecast that they're confident that there will be acceptable limits by tomorrow's competition.

If not, Brianna, they would cancel the swim portion. They'd go with a run cycle, run again triathlon, something to certainly follow in the hours to come.

Now, it was a party scene at the women's gymnastics qualifier last night. Fans and celebrities there to see the greatest gymnast of all time, Simone Biles, at the team qualifying.

But during her warm-ups, she injured herself. The coach said it's a lingering calf injury, but Biles powered through to put on this iconic performance.

The team locked their spot in the final with Biles qualifying for four of the five individual events as well. So a chance for five more Olympic medals for the GOAT here in Paris.

Now we all have had some good news here from the Team USA men's gymnastics team. For the first time since 2008, they have medaled. There we're chants of "USA" roaring through the arena.

[14:55:08]

You can see that man they call Clark Kent there, the Clark Kent of gymnastics.

They win that medal, the bronze, behind China, who took the silver, and Japan, edging out for the gold. So congrats to the fab five.

Now the start to Team USA women's water polo quest to fourpete as Olympic champs didn't go as planned, lost to Spain in their first match.

But with the support of one of the greatest hype men on the planet, they will have added motivation to get back on track. I caught up with the one and only Flavor Flav here in Paris.

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FLAVOR FLAV, RAPPER, REALITY TV STAR & ENTREPRENEUR: These girls and men, when, when they're not in the water, their home, you know, live actual working lives, you know, I'm saying? One, two or three jobs. And they out here busting their butts to make the United States look good.

You know what I'm saying? So I said why not help give these girls a boost.

(CROSSTALK)

(LAUGHTER)

WIRE: You know what? I bought a lie. But --

FLAVOR FLAV: Oh, there we go.

WIRE: That's it.

FLAVOR FLAV: Let's go. Let's go now.

(LAUGHTER)

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WIRE: Now I think I lost audio from you there. But I'm pretty sure it ended with something to the effect of, yes, boy. The hip-hop icon caught wind of one of the stars.

Maggie Stephens posted on social media how she didn't feel the team had enough support that it needed. So Flav stepped up and stepped all the way out here to Paris to root on the team.

Even meeting first lady, Jill Biden, who was here and went to one of their sessions saying it was an honor to meet her.

And it was much deserved for those women in that water who will be chasing again a fourth-straight Olympic gold.

KEILAR: Yes, we heard the yeah boy loud and clear. So much fun.

Coy Wire, with the best assignment, we thank you for the update.

And just ahead, President Biden today set to propose some major changes to the Supreme Court. Why he wants to end lifetime appointments for justices, and why he's doing this now.

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