Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Three Americans Released from Russian Captivity in Complex Prisoner Swap; President Biden Comments on Importance of International Alliances in Bringing About Agreement that Resulted in Release of American Prisoners; Judge Could Jumpstart Trump Election Interference Case; Biden Weighs More U.S. Defenses for Israel as Iran Vows Retaliation. Aired 8-8:30a ET.

Aired August 02, 2024 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Sprint star Sha'Carri Richardson crushing the opening heat of the 100 meters here in Paris, finishing in 10.94 seconds, about two meters ahead of the next closest competitor. She's 24-year-old after being suspended from the Tokyo Games due to a positive test for THC. The reigning world champ is looking for redemption. She's looking fast. The semifinals, Kate, and the final are tomorrow for the hot ticket, but also a hot ticket tonight, the men's 100 meter freestyle in the pool. Caeleb Dressel, Superman, looking to claim his ninth career Olympic gold and reign supreme as once again the fastest man in the pool on the planet.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: The Katie Ledecky stories in the pool have been insane, how many seconds she's been beating people by. It's absolutely wild and can't wait to see what happens today. Good to see you, buddy. Thank you.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: All right, everyone, the breaking news, from Russian jail cells to U.S. soil, tearful reunions overnight between three newly freed Americans and their families. We have new details on the painstaking and complex negotiations to get them home.

And new this morning, Donald Trump's federal election interference case is back in the hands of a federal judge in D.C. the after the Supreme Court's game changing ruling on presidential immunity. We're going to take a look at what she'll do with the case with fewer than 100 days to the election.

And a fugitive wanted for three decades caught and arrested because of a bicycle violation. We'll explain.

I'm Omar Jimenez with Kate Bolduan. John Berman and Sara Sidner are out today. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

BOLDUAN: Breaking overnight, the nightmare finally over for three Americans freed from Russian prisons after an historic deal to bring them home. The emotional reunion played out before cameras at Joint Base Andrews late last night. Former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, "Wall Street Journal" reporter Evan Gershkovich, and Russian American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva taking their first free steps on U.S. soil last night.

With Whelan, President Biden, he was seen taking an American flag pin from his lapel and pinning it on Paul who spent nearly six years in prison in Russia, though he made a point to remind reporters in speaking with them last night, its five years, seven months, and five days that he was in prison. Gershkovich getting off the plane and sweeping his mom off feet. Asked how he feels to be home, he replied, it's not bad.

And Kurmasheva running to get into the arms of her two young daughters. Reporters on the ground said you could hear the little girls sobs from what yards away. One of the girls turns 13-years-old today. All possible after a massive deal between seven different countries.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I meant what I said. Alliances make a difference. They stepped up. They took a chance for us. And it mattered a lot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: And early this morning, the newly freed Americans arrived in San Antonio, Texas, to go -- to undergo a medical evaluation. And that's where CNN's Rosa Flores is in San Antonio for us. And Rosa, you were able to speak with Paul Whelan. What did he tell you?

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Kate, I asked him to describe this moment, and he said that it just did not feel real. I mean, imagine, he had spent more than five years in detention in a prison in Russia, and here he is leaving and going to American soil. He says that it didn't feel real until he was over British airspace and he was able to look down and see he British soil. And that's when he says that it hit him, that this was real, that he was going home. And he described his home coming as just a great homecoming. President Biden was there to greet them on the tarmac, and so was Vice President Harris.

His family, of course, he said that it was nice to hug his sister, Elizabeth, for the first time in years, and it was just an emotional moment. And as you mentioned earlier, he also said and confirmed that the lapel pin that he was wearing here in San Antonio, Texas, was the same lapel pin that President Joe Biden gave to him on the tarmac in D.C. And he said that it was just a nice keepsake, that they were chatting, and that the president just took off his lapel pin and gave it to him. But he also took a moment to criticize the Russian government. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL WHELAN, U.S. MARINE VETERAN FREED IN PRISONER SWAP WITH RUSSIA: I went on a two-week vacation. The FSB grabbed me, said I was a spy. I'm a apparently a general in the army, a secret agent for DIA. This is the nonsense narrative they came up with, and they just, they wouldn't let it go. So this is how Putin runs his government. This is how Putin runs his country. Yes, I'm glad I'm home.

(LAUGHTER)

WHELAN: I'm never going back there again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[08:05:03]

FLORES: And you heard him say that, he's never going back there again. Right now, he and the other to freed Americans are at Brooke Army Medical Center, that's the center that you see behind me. And Kate, this is where they will get a medical evaluation. And according to a U.S. government official, all three freed Americans have agreed to undergo something called apiza (ph). And what that is, it's a reintegration program, actually the gold-star program for the U.S. Department of Defense that is fitted for civilians who have been detained abroad like these three Americans who are finally on us soil. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Rosa, thank you so much for being there. Much more to come on this. Omar?

JIMENEZ: Now, a Biden aide called the complicated effort to free those Americans, quote, vintage Joe Biden diplomacy. CNN's Priscilla Alvarez is at the White House. Priscilla, what more are we learning about how they made this happen?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN REPORTER: Well, we have several new details about how this unfolded in only the last few months and weeks. Of course, this did require a lot of leaning on partnerships and alliances around the world. And that was a theme of the day yesterday as the president and his aides talked about this massive and historic effort. Now, this included the president going all the way up to the highest levels, talking to the German chancellor to try to strike a deal, because of course, part of this was that there were Russians held in other countries that the U.S. had to tap but into to create a deal here for Americans and others to be released.

And so this morning hearing from National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, who said that over the last few weeks and months they had to put pieces into play. That required leaning on Germany, Slovenia, Poland, and Norway, again, to get Russians to make this deal worthwhile. Now, this wasn't easy. This, again, required conversations between the president and counterparts, as well as the vice president who had, for example, a meeting with the chancellor in Munich earlier this year. So those were some of the details we were learning over the course of the last 24 hours, including the president calling the Slovenian prime minister only an hour before he also withdrew from the presidential race last week.

Now of course, this culminated in this remarkable moment that we saw play out on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews just yesterday that was, again, concluding what a historic effort it was, and the relief and jubilation among officials was felt yesterday here at the White House and this morning as that continues into the day, knowing that these Americans are here.

Now, the president, taking a moment on the tarmac to really stress relationships with partners. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We put back together, relationships with countries that we haven't had before. We rebuilt NATO. We rebuilt the circumstances allowing this to happen, and that's why it happened.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What is your message tonight to Vladimir Putin?

BIDEN: Stop.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALVAREZ: Now, the vice president after that also underscoring that it is important to have these relationships, and in some ways also alluding to and underscoring the stakes of the presidential election. Again, as you heard there from Rosa, all these Americans will be getting their medical checks, but they are certainly still feeling of relief here at the White House this morning.

JIMENEZ: All right, Palestinian, thank you so much. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Joining us now for more on this is Evelyn Farkas, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia. It's good to see you, especially on a day like today. Let's start with the Americans who are finally now home. We've seen this process before, we've talked about this process before, but how important is this process when they get to Brooke Medical and what they're going to be going through now.

EVELYN FARKAS, FORMER DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF DEFENSE FOR RUSSIA, UKRAINE, EURASIA: Kast, obviously, I don't have -- but I was on last night -- withheld by the Iranian government -- he talked about the fact that after he spoke with Evan Gershkovich, one of the released -- and I'm told him to stay as long as he can. This kind of -- is really important work -- process --

BOLDUAN: Evelyn, Evelyn, just give a sec. We're having an issue with your audio and your mic. We're going to try to fix that and we're going to get back to it. Omar.

JIMENEZ: Yes, we'll try to get her back in in a few minutes here.

But meanwhile, I'll update you on some other stories we're following, including his tensions spike in the Middle East, we have new CNN reporting that President Biden may send more military deployments to back up Israel.

And new evidence this morning that humans may be to blame for wildfires in Colorado that have already killed one person. And Donald Trump fights back against the Democrats, calling him weird

basically by saying, no, you are.

[08:10:02]

More to come.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JIMENEZ: New this morning in Washington, D.C., federal judge Tanya Chutkan is set to regain control of the criminal case against former President Trump or his attempt to overturn the 2020 election. Now, this comes with just 94 days left until this Election Day and barely a month after the Supreme Court ruled that Trump has sweeping immunity for official acts he took as president.

Let's bring in CNN senior justice correspondent Evan Perez, who joins us with the latest.

[08:15:00]

So Evan, even if Judge Chutkan has the case back today, what does that mean, what can we expect to happen next?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, the first thing that might see from the judge is an order telling the two sides, telling Donald Trump and telling the Justice Department to essentially tell her what they want to do and to set up, perhaps a briefing schedule and that could happen as soon as today. It could happen in the next in the next few days.

But look, I mean, the former president's strategy of delaying this case to make sure that it doesn't happen before the election is pretty close to being accomplished. I mean, it's very, very hard to see how you can fit a case like this in between now and those 94 days before the election, as you pointed out.

So, the strategy has been aided by a number of things, including of course, the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court, you'll remember, Omar, ruled a month ago -- just over a month ago that the former president had broad immunity for official acts. And one of the most important parts of that ruling was also to say that the Justice Department essentially couldn't use some of the key evidence that it has in this case.

Some of the evidence from close aides, people like Mike Pence, people like Mark Meadows. Some of that evidence could be essentially off- limits for prosecutors and that could make this case be much, much harder to bring and which is why Judge Chutkan is going to have to do more proceedings, more hearings to be able to determine whether to move forward and how to move forward in the next few weeks.

Now, all of that means that the pressure is on. The judge has made clear that she does believe this case should go to trial before the election. The mechanics of that, the procedure to get there is going to be the more difficult part of that -- Omar. JIMENEZ: It is already a complicated procedure and now made even more

so, Evan, really appreciate the reporting, thanks.

PEREZ: Sure.

JIMENEZ: All right, coming up for us, the historic prisoner swap took months to put together. We are going to have new details on the incredible steps it took to make this happen.

And Tom Cruise set to do Tom Cruise things, to perform a big stunt at the Olympics, we'll tell you all about it, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:21:34]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Right now, the funeral of Hamas' political leader, Ismail Haniyeh is underway in Qatar. His assassination earlier this week now has Israel and the United States bracing for retaliation as Iran has promised a harsh and painful -- their words -- response to the killing that happened on their soil.

But we now also have new reporting that President Biden is weighing sending more and new defensive military deployments -- that is how it's being described -- to the Middle East to prepare. Iranian retaliation is what we are talking about, but the White House has said and have said again this morning to us could include an attack on American forces.

Here's what the spokesperson for the White House National Security Council, John Kirby, told us last hour.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: When you're talking resources, is that people or is that hardware?

JOHN KIRBY, WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL SECURITY COMMUNICATIONS ADVISER: It's most likely going to be a combination of both, of course, because it's not just hardware when you're adding capability to a region. You've got to add troops into that mix as well to maintain and operate that equipment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: CNN's Natasha Bertrand is at the Pentagon with much more. Natasha, what more are you learning?

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kate. So, in a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last night, President Biden did preview that the US is prepared to send additional US military defensive equipment and deployments to the Middle East to protect the Israelis and of course, the US forces from a potential Iranian retaliation here.

This is something that the US is actively preparing for because the Iranians have pretty directly threatened that they are going to respond to the assassination of the Hamas leader in Tehran earlier this week.

And so, what that looks like remains unclear. US Central Command were told, has been in talks with the Pentagon about which assets they can kind of move around at this point in the region.

They already have quite a few naval assets in the area, including amphibious assault ships in the Eastern Mediterranean, which are very close to Lebanon at this point, as well as a carrier strike group that is in the Gulf of Oman that could potentially be moved even closer to Lebanon if in case some kind of conflict breaks out. It could also be moved to the Red Sea to try to prevent, for example attacks from Iran- backed militias, including the Houthis, from impacting any US forces and allies in the region.

And so, they have a number of options here. But in terms of what this attack might actually look like, they are bracing for something that could be potentially much larger, more complex, more coordinated than even what we saw from Iran against Israel in April, where they launched those massive barrages of ballistic missiles and drones at the Israelis that was intercepted in large part by the US and a coalition of allies that came together to try to protect the Israelis against this attack. This could be even bigger, according to US officials, so that is what they are bracing for here.

But the big question of course, is whether the US is going to actually be able to get that coalition together once again, to take down any kind of attacks that Iran may lob at Israel in coordination, perhaps with Hezbollah, which of course is a very powerful paramilitary force in Southern Lebanon.

And so, they are also bracing at this point for attacks on US forces in the Middle East by those Iran-backed proxy groups. Pretty much everything is on the table here and the Pentagon, as usual, is preparing for all possible contingencies and outcomes here -- Kate.

[08:25:03]

BOLDUAN: Yes, as you're listing out, it's like so, everything is on the table and everything has to be prepared for sure. Natasha, thank you so much, great reporting as always.

Ahead for us, a missing bike part helped police catch a fugitive who has been on the run for 30 years.

Donald Trump says, he is not weird, you are.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:30:00]