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Senate Set to Pass Bill Protecting Kids Online; Olympic Athletes Face Hottest Paris Day of the Year; Gauff Melts Down in Olympics Match; Massive Swarm of Dragonflies in Rhode Island. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired July 30, 2024 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00]

MICHAEL BLAKE, CEO, KAIROS DEMOCRACY GROUP: They weren't prepared for the vice president to be running. That just shows where they're at right now. And they didn't - the have no message. They have no argument. Their entire framing was, Joe Biden is old. Well, your candidate is old. You have no policies. You have no vision. And the reality is, they have candidates who do not have anything to say to the American people, which is why we have seen so much energy for the next president of the United States.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: We will see how this all tumbles out. The Democratic National Committee is happening August 19th. That's when it begins. We will see how this goes up until that point and beyond.

Liam, Michael, thank you both for being here.

John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, we are standing by for a major vote in the Senate. What it could mean for the safety of children on social media.

And Coco Gauff left in tears after a questionable call by an umpire.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:35:22]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Today on Capitol Hill, a long-awaited package aimed at better protecting children online is expected to pass the Senate. It's a bipartisan effort, first and foremost. Just stop and appreciate that. It's also a push that is really the first major effort by Congress in decades to hold tech companies more accountable for the harm that they cause.

CNN's Luren Fox is on Capitol Hill following all of this.

Lauren, it was a long road getting here.

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, the last time that Congress tried to tackle children's safety online, Kate, was 1998. And it has been years in the making. Bipartisan lawmakers trying to find a path forward.

And we should note that this bill has large bipartisan support. It has more than 70 co-sponsors. That's almost unheard of when you are talking about a bill coming to the Senate floor. And it really does combine some odd bedfellows. You have Marsha Blackburn, a really conservative Republican, working very closely with Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut. They really helped spearhead this bill, get it the attention and support that it needed to get to the floor.

And it really does two separate things. It puts the onus on companies online to try and protect children, to do everything in their power to make that the case, that children are not victimized online, that they are not seeing the kind of content that could hurt them or, you know, create issues with body image. That's something that we've talked so much about on CNN.

The other question that it deals with is targeting advertisements directed at children. It really tries to stem the tide of that.

And so you have here a bill and a package of bills that really does lot of things to try to protect kids online. And we should just note, Kate, that this is the kind of legislation that in an election year you may not really see that often because it's bipartisan, it's something that everyone can go home and campaign on.

Now, this bill's future is still a little bit uncertain in the United States House of Representatives. But Speaker Mike Johnson said that he looks forward to reviewing this legislation. And of course, we expect that it could come to the floor in the House after the August recess.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: And what have or are the tech companies saying about this moving forward?

FOX: Yes, I mean, there's really a divide over this. And there are some groups like the ACLU, who are really concerned, Kate, about this legislation, arguing that it could infringe on the rights of internet users. And I think that that has been one of the battles that lawmakers have had to face really is the fact that this is not a bill that everyone loves and yet they are still able to move forward with it today.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: All right, Lauren, thank you so much for bringing that to us. We'll see what happens.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right, ahead, dangerous conditions in Paris today. The record temperatures making it even more challenging for the Olympic athletes there.

Plus, a day at the beach straight out of the Old Testament. Look at this. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At first there was, you know, there were a lot of dragonflies, and then there was million.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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[09:42:49]

SIDNER: All right, right now it's 95 degrees in Paris and feels like 101, officially making it the city's hottest day of the year. Bad news, of course, for the Olympic athletes set to play tennis, rugby, soccer, and beach volleyball today.

CNN's Derek Van Dam is joining us now.

Ouch, that is really hot for Paris in particular. I mean there's nothing they can do about this, right? I mean it's outside.

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, look, Sara, it's well- documented that Paris is Europe's most vulnerable city to heat. But understanding why it's like that is so important for Olympic organizers to plan ahead for such a scenario as today. It's all about the urban heat island effect. We get it in our large cities here in America. But in Paris in particular, the heat is amplified because of the concrete, the asphalt the buildings in this very condensed urban environment that the city of light resides in. You can just see it with this picture.

So, we've got the greenhouse gas emissions that we emit into the air, and that traps the heat close to the ground where you and I operate, including the spectators and the athletes. It's hot today and it's amplified by this urban heat island effect. In fact, the temperature right now, cool a degree or two since what you reported just a moment ago, but anyway you slice it, it's very hot. You factor in the humidity, it's very uncomfortable and downright dangerous for the athletes. And that will continue through the course of the day today.

But with all of this extra added heat baked into the atmosphere over the past 100 years since Paris last hosted the Olympics, we've seen a 5.5 degree Fahrenheit increase in our average temperature during this two-week period that the Olympics is undergoing right now. So, this allowed for event organizers to be concerned about the potential for severe weather that could pop up, fueled by this extra added heat. And today is a prime example of just that.

With this heat we have the potential for these bubbling of thunderstorms that could cause some heavy rainfall, large hail, strong wind gusts. And we know, Sara, how the heavy rain impacts the River Seine, and how it's already impacted the triathlon events as well.

[09:45:04]

We'll see if that does it today. SIDNER: It's the thing that bothers John Berman the most, the Seine is not clean and they can't do the triathlon without the Seine clean.

VAN DAM: Yes. It bothers the athletes. That's right.

SIDNER: All right. Thank you so much, Derek Van Dam.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: And more headlines coming from the summer Olympics. Day four of the summer Olympics, and Coco Gauff just faced a stunning loss in her third round match.

Let's get over to Andy Scholes for the update on this.

Andy, what happened?

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Kate, you know, the Paris games got off to an amazing start for Coco. We all saw it. She was one of the flag bearers with LeBron James. But, I mean, today was just a nightmare for her.

So, she had set point in the opening set, up 5-2, but Croatia's Donna Vekic not only saved set point, she came all the way back and won it in a tie break. And then in the second set, the umpire overruled an out call that just infuriated Coco. She argued with the umpire that the ball should have been replayed do to her claim that the earlier out call had interfered with her shot. Coco got so upset she was in tears, saying she's always being cheated. She ended up getting no relief and would then lose that set as well, 6-2. So, Coco's now out of singles. Her Olympics, though, not over. She's still going to be competing in both the women's and mixed doubles.

Now, elsewhere there in Paris, a big day for the women's gymnastics team as they look to reclaim the team gold. Three years ago at the Tokyo games the team got silver. That was after gold in 2012 and 2016.

Now, Simone Biles says she's good to go despite tweaking that calf on Sunday. The U.S. should be pretty confident today. They had three of the top for all around performers on Sunday during qualifications. You've got Biles and Jordan Chiles slated to compete in all four events today. Suni Lee on the bars, beam and floor. And then you've got Jade Carey going to be on the vault. Women's team final starts at 12:15 Eastern.

The men's team, meanwhile, they got a new hero. His name is Stephen Nedoroscik. And if the pommel horse specialist could deliver a flawless routine yesterday, the U.S. would win a medal in the all- around. And he came through big time. Nedoroscik, he knew it after that dismount. The whole team mobbed him, and a big celebration right there on the floor. Now, the Nedoroscik known as Clark Kent for those thick-rimmed glasses. And he certainly had a Superman performance. It got the U.S. the bronze. It was the men's first team medal since 2008, and just their fourth since 1932.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) STEPHEN NEDOROSCIK, 2024 OLYMPICS BRONZE MEDALIST: Went up there, did my routine. And during that dismount, I was just like already smiling, I think. I saluted the judges and looked at these guys and they were jumping up and down. I mean it was just the greatest moment of my life, I think. And I'm so happy to have them there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Such a great moment.

Now, during the lead up to the games, there was a lot of discussion on whether the water on the River Seine was going to be clean enough to hold events. Officials, you know, they kept insisting that it would be. The Paris mayor even swimming in it to try to alleviate concerns.

Well, this morning, they postponed the men's triathlon because they tested the water and it was found to have too much pollution in order to swim in it. They're blaming the heavy rain on Friday and Saturday for the levels there, Kate.

There's hope that the triathlon will be able to take place tomorrow after the women's race. You know, we'll wait and see. But if I was one of the athletes, I would not be very confident jumping in that water at this point.

BOLDUAN: I know. I know. And like all they want to do - all they want to do is to get in the water and to compete.

SCHOLES: Right.

BOLDUAN: It's so brutal. It's really rough. I mean, and thank you, Andy. And when going into the games, the concern wasn't just pollution, it was E. Coli in the Seine.

BERMAN: Right.

BOLDUAN: Like -

BERMAN: You don't want to leave with the bronze and E. Coli. That's a bad combination for sure.

BOLDUAN: Yes. We say it all the time.

BOLDUAN: As we say.

All right, when dragonflies attack. Our CNN reporter was undercover on location and survived to tell the story.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:53:21]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have never seen anything like this in my life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: That dramatic video, dragonflies swarming, assaulting an unsuspecting Rhode Island beach over the weekend. There could be millions of them flying right there. Imagine being there.

We don't have to anymore. Why? Because CNN law and justice reporter Katelyn Polantz was there. She survived. She is here to tell the story.

Katelyn, are you OK this morning?

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: John, I know you want me to say it was scary, but I'm going to say, it was magical.

This is what happened. I was at the Newport Folk Festival over the weekend and on Friday, right around 4:00, this swarm of dragonflies just rose out of, I guess, the Narragansett Bay and flew open Fort Adams State Park.

At the moment that it happened, I was listening to this band named Guster (ph), and people started looking around and saying, are these locus? What's going on? It was a little scary at the beginning, but then the guy who's the front man of Guster, he yelled, dragonflies, and he jumped into the crowd. And people were putting their hands up. The dragonflies were landing on their hands. The music was playing. The sun was out. It was a beautiful day.

And it was really amazing because, John, dragonflies, they don't hit you. I really thought that we would be getting pelted in the face. But they're amazing flyers. And so they were landing on people's hats. They were landing on people's hands. And it really was just an amazing moment.

So, I usually am your law girl, but I'm here to tell you today that science is cool too.

[09:55:05]

BERMAN: Now, Kate was wondering, Katelyn -

BOLDUAN: (INAUDIBLE) -

BERMAN: Were they mating?

BOLDUAN: No, the -

BERMAN: Could you tell?

BOLDUAN: Was it like a mating season thing? I don't know.

POLANTZ: I don't know that much about etymology, but I - from what I have heard, they -- they travel in pacts because it allows them to eat other bugs. That is what I have read on the internet since this happened. And no other further explanation, but it really was something that -- maybe it was lucky. I don't know. But it was a dragonfly swarm in the middle of the Newport Folk Festival. And apparently across the waters of Rhode Island.

SIDNER: At least they weren't locus, because I'm going to tell you right now, I've been in a swarmer locus. They do hit you and they're mean and they hurt. Swear. In Israel. They -

BOLDUAN: I think - I think - I think dragonflies are cuter than a cicada.

SIDNER: They're nicer. Totally. Totally.

BOLDUAN: Yes. Right.

SIDNER: Less noisy.

BOLDUAN: Yes, really beautiful.

SIDNER: Poor John. John is just sitting here.

BERMAN: Katelyn, we're so glad you're OK this morning. We were concerned when we heard that you were there. We appreciate you coming on this morning.

SIDNER: Dragonflies.

POLANTZ: Thanks for having me.

BOLDUAN: Thank you guys so much for joining us. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL. "CNN NEWSROOM" with Pamela Brown up next.

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