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Fears Of Wider Regional Conflict Grow After Golan Heights Attack; Police: 2 Children Killed, 9 Injured In Knife Attack In England; U.S. Intel: Iran Covertly Trying To Influence Americans Against Trump. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired July 29, 2024 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: ... about the teenager accused of stabbing eight people, some of them children, northwest of London.

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BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is warning that the response to this weekend's rocket attack that killed 12 kids will be severe. Today, Netanyahu visited the site of the strike in the Israeli occupied Golan Heights near the Israel Lebanon border.

[15:35:00]

Now Israel is blaming Hezbollah for the attack, but the militant group is denying responsibility. And as fears of a wider regional conflict grow, the U.S. Embassy in Beirut issued this warning to Americans. Get out now or prepare to shelter in place for long periods of time.

Let's take you now live to Beirut with CNN senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman. Ben, what are you hearing from the region about an anticipated Israeli response?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we heard yesterday was that after a meeting of the Israeli cabinet that Prime Minister Netanyahu and the defense minister, Yoav Gallant were authorized to strike back at Hezbollah at a -- in a manner and at a time of their choosing. Now, the anticipation was that last night, perhaps in the early hours of the morning that Israel would indeed strike Hezbollah. But that didn't happen.

So the anticipation is growing about what and where Israel will strike. Now, today I had the opportunity to speak by phone with Lebanon's caretaker foreign minister, Abdallah Bou Habib, who told me that through diplomatic contacts, Lebanon had received assurances that Israel's response to that strike and the and Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights would be limited.

Now, he didn't know exactly what limited means, but he told me that the Lebanese government interpretation of that was that it would be limited to military targets relating to Hezbollah, not the Beirut Airport, for example, or particularly the southern suburbs of Beirut, which is where many of Hezbollah's leaders are based.

Nonetheless, because of growing fear of an Israeli response, we've seen, for instance, Germany and Italy advising their nationals to leave the country as soon as possible. We've seen, for instance, Lufthansa, the German airline, is canceling all flights to and from Beirut until the 5th of August. Air France has suspended flights today and tomorrow to Beirut.

And there is simply a growing fear that Israel's response will come and it will be strong. Specifics we don't know about, but it's that lack of awareness is really feeding the sense of uneasiness here in the Lebanese capital -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: And Ben, Hamas is now accusing Netanyahu of setting new conditions and demands during the latest round of ceasefire talks. Give us an update on where things stand.

WEDEMAN: Well, those talks happened in Rome, involving the Americans, the Israelis, the Qataris and others. And of course, Hamas came out and said that Israel had imposed a whole raft of new demands. Now, the prime minister's office in Jerusalem has denied that, but it does appear that hopes for a breakthrough on a ceasefire and the release of hostages and Palestinian prisoners have been dashed for now.

Now, the hope was that basically, if there's a ceasefire in Gaza, that will certainly dramatically reduce tensions, not only there, but also on the border between Lebanon and Israel.

Hezbollah has made it clear that as soon as there is quiet in Gaza, there will be quiet on the border. Now, we've seen they've actually made good on that back in November, when there was that brief period, when there was a truce, a ceasefire in Gaza and prisoners and detainees were released. Hezbollah stopped firing. The border was quiet. The hope is that if there's a breakthrough, there will be quiet here as well -- Boris/

SANCHEZ: Ben Wedeman, live for us in Beirut. Thank you so much, Ben -- Brianna.

KEILAR: We're following some new developments out of the U.K. Police in the northern town of Southport say two children were killed, nine others are injured after a knife attack at a dance school there. Six of the wounded are in critical condition, including at least two adults. Officials say the children were attending a Taylor Swift themed yoga event at the school when the attack happened. A 17-year- old is now in custody on suspicion of murder and attempted murder.

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YVETTE COOPER, BRITISH INTERIOR MINISTER: I know the whole House will be very concerned at the extremely serious incidents that has taken place in Southport. We -- all of our thoughts will be with the family and loved ones of those who are affected.

[15:40:00] I have been in contact with the Merseyside Police and Crime Commissioner and the Merseyside Mayor to convey my support to the police and our thanks to the police and emergency services for their swift and courageous response.

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KEILAR: Police say they're still searching for a motive. They do not believe the attack is terror related. We'll be right back.

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SANCHEZ: For the first time since the pandemic, McDonald's is seeing a slump. The fast food giant reported that sales actually fell last quarter from the same time last year. Something investors surely are not loving it.

[15:45:12]

CNN Consumer Reporter Nathaniel Meyersohn joins us now. Nathaniel, I botched that pun. But nevertheless, it's still a significant story. Walk us through what we're learning about their earnings.

NATHANIEL MEYERSOHN, CNN CONSUMER REPORTER: You did great, Boris. But yes, this is a significant news for McDonald's. You know, we're seeing the sales drop because the prices have gotten out of whack.

Fast food and McDonald's, it's supposed to be cheap. But over the past several years, we've seen McDonald's prices jump 40 percent since 2019. And so many consumers are saying we're not going to be paying these higher prices anymore.

And what they're doing is they're cooking at home. They're shopping at Walmart or discount grocery stores like Aldi. And then when they do go out to eat, they're looking for places where they can really get value and a bang for their buck.

So we've seen Chipotle sales actually rise 11 percent during its latest quarter. So this seems to be more of an issue with McDonald's than other chains.

SANCHEZ: So what is the fast food company doing now to try to revitalize sales?

MEYERSOHN: So we see them trying to respond, Boris. And the main way they're doing this is they're adding this new $5 value meal to try to get back consumers. So this $5 value meal, there it is on your screen right there.

You either get a McDouble or a McChicken, small fries, chicken nuggets and a soda. McDonald's says that this deal has drawn back some customers. The problem, though, Boris, is it's a limited time offer for McDonald's. So it's not going to last into the fall and the winter. It's just too cheap for the company to be able to make money off of it. So McDonald's is going to need some new strategies. It says it's going to be trying to add bigger hamburgers. So customers could look forward to bigger hamburgers. But these are some significant challenges for McDonald's, and it faces really tough competition.

SANCHEZ: It does. Nathaniel Meyersohn, thanks so much for the update. Stay with CNN NEWS CENTRAL. I promise I'll try to not mess up any more puns. Stay with us.

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[15:51:46]

SANCHEZ: Some breaking news into CNN. CNN has learned that Iran is using covert social media accounts and influence operations to undercut the campaign of former President Donald Trump. This is according to a U.S. intelligence official, and it comes from a new assessment.

KEILAR: CNN cybersecurity reporter Sean Lyngaas is joining us now on this. It also comes on the heels of intelligence revealing that there was a plot by Iran against Donald Trump. Obviously, no love lost between Trump and Iran.

SEAN LYNGAAS, CNN CYBERSECURITY REPORTER: Right, Brianna. I mean, Donald Trump ordered the killing of Soleimani, the main Iranian general, a couple years ago. And ever since then, it's been bad blood, to say the least. What you mentioned with the plot on the assassination attempt, that was obviously the most severe thing that we've seen on that front for a long time.

This is more long-term covert meddling, trying to sow discord in the U.S. The U.S. intelligence officials believe that Iran was behind organizing some protests related to Gaza. Doesn't mean to say that all those protests are related to that, but this is kind of just a number of fronts in which Iran allegedly is trying to up the temperature here in the U.S., trying to make it more difficult to discern true from false online. And like you said, it comes on the heel of the assassination plot. So clearly, there is an increased tempo in Iranian efforts to influence the U.S. presidential election.

SANCHEZ: Notably, this assessment outlines that Russia remains the predominant threat to U.S. elections. But it's fascinating because Iran is helping Russia build drones to deploy in Ukraine, yet, at least in 2016, Russia seemed to be trying to help Donald Trump get elected, not the other way around.

LYNGAAS: Right. I mean, Russia is also playing by its own playbook. It is trying to influence the U.S. election, according to U.S. intelligence officials, as ever. And right now, more than anything, the determinant for that is who supports more aid to Ukraine, which, you know, across the ballot, whether it be on the Senate or House side or on the presidential ticket. And Donald Trump has made pretty clear his skepticism for supporting Ukraine on a number of fronts. So that hasn't changed. What has changed, according to the new assessment, Boris, is that Russia is continuing to use sort of these private companies to hide their hand or try to hide their hand in the way that they present information to Americans. So launder it through -- hire someone to write an article and not tell them who is behind the outlet.

So if you're a freelance journalist, say, I need 100 bucks. Sure, I'll write a story about blah, blah, blah. And then later we learned that that might be a Russian intelligence cutout, that they're hiring people to do that. So that's what the kind of tactics that U.S. officials are seeing right now -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: Yes, and as elections have come and gone, we've seen the tactics become more sophisticated and complex. Sean Lyngaas, thanks so much for the reporting. Appreciate it.

Stay with CNN NEWS CENTRAL, we're back in just a few minutes.

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[15:59:14]

SANCHEZ: We are looking at live images from Austin, Texas, where President Biden just touched down in Air Force One. He's going to walk out of Air Force One in just moments, and he's set to give a speech in which he's going to propose a slate of seismic changes to the judiciary branch, including term limits for Supreme Court justices. CNN is, of course, going to monitor those remarks and stay on top of this story as we get it.

KEILAR: Now, some neighbors in a Washington State community got quite the surprise from the sky. A hot air balloon made an unexpected landing near homes in Bonnie Lake, just outside of Tacoma. Eight people on board there, some celebrating their 21st birthdays. And during their trip, there were strong winds that blew them off course. The pilot says he chose to land in this neighborhood because it didn't have power lines.

[16:00:02]

Pretty smart.

SANCHEZ: Yes, smart move. At one point, the balloon was hovering just 10 feet above homes. Neighbors then helped guide the balloon from the ground to an open street.

Notably, three weeks ago, a balloon from the same company landed just a couple of miles away, but in the same neighborhood. Pretty cool story.

I do want to apologize to our viewers. It's National Chicken Wing Day, and we are not celebrating, even though we celebrated National Hot Dog Day only a few days ago.

KEILAR: But we wanted to acknowledge it.

SANCHEZ: We did want to acknowledge it.

KEILAR: Yes. "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts now.