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Harris Picks MN Gov. Tim Walz To Be Running Mate; Stocks Bouncing Back After Massive Sell-Off; Sources: Iran & Proxies Begin Making Preparations To Strike Israel; Debby To Drop Historic Rainfall Along Georgia, S. Carolina Coasts. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired August 06, 2024 - 13:30   ET

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

[13:30:00]

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN HOST: And, Mayor, I mean, if you're sitting on Harris' team right now, I mean, look, you know, the Republicans are going through Walz's record, pulling some of the most progressive policy achievements that he has on his side of things, especially with the Democratic legislature in Minnesota.

How do they counter those attacks, especially when you have visuals, like when you're going back to the 2020 protests and riots that we saw in that state. How do you -- how do you counter some of those types of attacks?

BILL DE BLASIO (D), FORMER NEW YORK CITY MAYOR: Well, you got to point out that Tim Walz is a person who got Minnesota and Minneapolis out of that horrible situation.

I mean, that was an unprecedented moment in American history of pandemic plus civil unrest. And we've got to give Tim Walz credit for getting a handle this situation and turning it around.

We had a lot of the same conditions in New York City. So I can speak from experience. It's incredibly challenging. But he got the job done.

On top of that, you've got a guy who's done real things, that he gave school lunches to all of the children of Minnesota. He's done tangible things that, honestly, everyday Americans can relate to it, especially the people who will decide this election.

And those are suburban, moderate women. They're going to look at Tim Walz's actual record of accomplishment. He's a family man. They're going to look at his personality. They can look at the way he's lived his life.

Being a high school teacher, that's something that's going to appeal to a lot of people. So I think it's profile. I think it's personality and achievements that are kitchen table and accessible.

He's the perfect candidate to appeal to women in those blue wall states, especially. That's where the Democrats win.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Shermichael, I do wonder, because, according -- as I mentioned before, this bipartisan Minnesota Senate report does show that there will be something politically for Republicans to work look with when it comes to Governor Walz's response to what happened in Minnesota in 2020. If you could kind of address that.

But if you could also speak to what the mayor also just said about those kitchen-table issues. A lot of them were quite progressive, a Medicaid expansion, paid family leave.

But for instance, I mean, we can all go back to the beginning of the Trump administration where that was a project that Ivanka Trump was going to be working on because it was so popular.

Those progressive things that he championed, are they really that easy to demonize for Republicans?

SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, that's a good question. So let me touch on the first issue, which I was kind of going to respond to the former mayor about.

The governor, actually, I think, ultimately, apologized by -- about delaying how long it took for him to send in the National Guard to deal with some of the rioting and protests and the violence we saw.

Obviously, we understood why, but clearly there is a way, I guess, one could argue in terms of showcasing your frustration, your disappointment, your sadness, and maybe even your anger.

So the governor has acknowledged it, that he didn't handle that situation as well as he could have. Republicans are going to attack that because they're going to make it about crime.

Is Tim Walz capable of handling some of the crime and communities and in other places where Americans feel that that's a top priority? Granted, it is down nationally. But there are some areas where we're seeing pockets of that could still become problematic.

In terms of some of the more progressive issues, I think it resonates with some Americans, Brianna, but I think the fundamental question for the average American will be, can I see a continuance of wage increases and a continuance of inflation and inflation reduction?

So that, if I'm making more money, I can afford things comfortably, I can save more, I can afford a last-minute emergency. And that's not the case for a significant percentage of Americans.

I think Republicans will attempt to draw that contrast, not only from the vice president, but also for Governor Walz.

JIMENEZ: And look, it was -- it was I guess fair to say, for weeks, we were trying to figure out who the vice-presidential pick would be, weighing the pros and cons, standing by to standing by.

Now we actually have the answer, and it's only today that the campaign actually begins for the vice-presidential pick of the vice president.

Shermichael Singleton, Mayor Bill De Blasio, thanks so much.

SINGLETARY: Thanks, guys.

JIMENEZ: All right, still ahead, stocks rally after a dismal start to the week. We see some green there. But fear remains among investors on wall street. We're going to take a look at today's numbers.

[13:34:15]

And sources tell CNN and that you, Iran and its proxies are beginning to make preparations for a potential retaliation against Israel. We're going to talk about when this could happen, ahead on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

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JIMENEZ: All right we're continuing to watch the markets as investors try to recover from yesterday's massive sell-off. Right now, the Dow, the NASDAQ and the S&P 500 all in positive territory. We see green there.

CNN business editor-at-large, Richard Quest, is in New York for us.

So, Richard, 24 hours ago, we were seeing a whole lot of red. What do the numbers saying to you right now?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS EDITOR-AT-LARGE & CNN HOST, "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS": They say that the setting was overdone. And when you're at the time, as you saw yesterday, the market opened very sharply lower and then rallied back up again.

And now we're sort of seeing the opposite side of it. This is all because of, firstly, Japan, the Nikkei went up 10 percent. Markets are not calibrated in the short term like Swiss clocks. They don't do very much overshoot one way and then overshoot the other.

And only over time do they find an equilibrium. And so you have the bounce back today. Not fully. And that's important because the market is still saying we're not fully happy that the Fed isn't behind the curve, that there isn't going to be further slowdown, more job losses, more economic troubles, possibly recession.

But it's not as bad as everybody may have thought yesterday and calmer minds have prevailed.

[13:39:57]

JIMENEZ: And, Richard, I want to get to one aspect of the economic picture right now, specifically new numbers from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, showing American households added $109 billion in debt in the first quarter of this year, bringing the household debt totals to $17.8 trillion.

All right, that's a record high with high interest rates as well. How sustainable is this?

QUEST: Well, it's sustainable if you keep your job. It's sustainable if you keep getting extra hours, or you get paid more. And these are sustainable numbers at one level. But is it desirable? No. And certainly not at a cost question of high interest rates with inflation being now what we've got now.

Of course, inflation coming down, which means people have got more money in their pockets to spend on things like groceries and gas. And if the Fed does lower interest rates, giving it a boost, then car loans, housing, their mortgages are slightly lower. for the long term.

But many of those short-term interest rates, overdrafts, credit cards, they will become cheaper, the debt on that. More money in your pocket debt, debt levels go lower.

Yes. One of the big problems in the U.S. economy is the high level of consumer debt. That needs to unwind. That's what will do it.

JIMENEZ: Richard Quest, thank you as always. Appreciate you being here.

All right, still ahead, the U.S. is calling for calm in the Middle East as a rocket attack injures American troops in Iraq and fears of a wider war grow. We're going to tell you what we're now learning about a possible retaliation by Iran and its proxies against Israel. Stay with us.

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[13:45:48]

KEILAR: Now to new developments in the Middle East where U.S. sources now confirm to CNN that Iran and its proxies are beginning to prepare for potential retaliatory strikes against Israel. These sources believe those strikes could happen here in the coming days.

Iran warning of blood vengeance after blaming Israel for the assassination of a Hamas political leader in Tehran last week.

The U.S. now says that an Iran-aligned militia group was behind launching a rocket attack at the Al-Assad Airbase in Iraq on Monday. That's a strike that injured seven American servicemembers, with two who we're evacuated for further care. Officials say that this is a dangerous escalation.

CNN's Natasha Bertrand is monitoring developments from the Pentagon.

Natasha, what are you hearing?

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yes, Brianna, so we're told from multiple sources that it does appear like some preparations have been gone to be made by Iran and by Hezbollah for potential retaliation against Israel.

But what exactly those preparations look like still remains unclear, as does the timing of a potential attack.

Now, just going back to April, when Iran launched that attack on Israel, you could see missiles moving around. U.S. officials, they saw, very clear signs that the Iranians we're preparing something potentially very significant.

They're not seeing those kinds of signs at this point, we're told. It does not appear, at this point, like, you know, the very visible and very active preparations are being made.

But they are seeing some signs that there are things moving around. Potentially, some kind of attack could be coming in the coming days.

It remains unclear what that is actually going to look like or whether going to even be coordinated between Hezbollah and Tehran or whether Hezbollah is going to kind of go at it alone.

That is now a more acute concern by U.S. officials that perhaps a larger attack could come, right -- right on Israel's border there from southern Lebanon, from Hezbollah. So they're watching this very closely.

And of course, at the same time, you have these U.S. servicemembers who were attacked, according to U.S. officials at Al-Assad Airbase in Iraq just yesterday. Five U.S. servicemembers, as well as two contractors, we're injured in that attack, with two of them needing to be evacuated for further care.

So the U.S. right now is basically ramping up all of its preparations for the possibility that something happens here, putting additional defensive assets in the region, including an aircraft carrier, as well as additional U.S. destroyers.

But at the same time, really working kinetically behind the scenes on this diplomatic push to try to de-escalate tensions.

You saw President Biden today speak to the leaders of Egypt and Qatar. And Secretary Blinken, of course, also working the phones, all in an effort to try to say, look, let's move on from this. Let's try to cool off a bit and de-escalate.

We'll see, of course, whether that works. But for now, U.S. officials really preparing for the worst here and hoping for the best -- Brianna?

KEILAR: All right, Natasha Bertrand, live for us from the Pentagon, thank you for that.

[13:48:44]

Still ahead, the governors of Florida and Georgia are warning residents that Tropical Storm Debby is not done with them yet. The flood threat rising in those states and in others up and down on the east coast. We're tracking the storm, next.

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[13:53:20]

JIMENEZ: All right, everyone, breaking news. Governor Tim Walz has landed in Philadelphia. These are live images of his plane. We should mention, as he's landed, he now gets turned over to U.S. Secret Service protection, where he'll begin an onboarding process, which is standard.

From here, he'll head to his first campaign event as Vice President Kamala Harris' running mate. That event set to begin at 5:30 p.m. Eastern time. We will continue to watch the governor's movements on this big day.

But we're also watching tropical storm movements, specifically Tropical Storm Debby. It's slowly wreaking havoc across the southeastern United States, southeastern U.S., I should say.

Historic and unprecedented rainfall is creating dangerous flash flooding in parts of Georgia and South Carolina. Multiple tornadoes have already whipped through several towns as well.

CNN's Allison Chinchar is in the CNN Weather Center with more on Debby's track.

So, Allison, how much rain can we expect here?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Right, Omar, that really is the question because for a lot of these areas, they feel like they have seen plenty of rain. They don't need any more.

But sadly, because of how slow the forward speed is for Debby, they're still going to be quite a bit of rain that we continue to see, not just today, but really for the next several days.

You've also got that tornado watch in effect. Right here, you can see a tornado warning. Those are going to continue this afternoon as well.

Storm surge. Because of that spin from the storm, it's going to continue to push a lot of that ocean water inland. So for a lot of these areas, including Myrtle Beach, down through Charleston and Savannah, still looking at about two to four feet of storm surge.

Then the system ever so slowly is going to finally start to move its way off towards the north. So it's going to come back inland and then begin to head up towards the northeast.

As it does, it is expected to weaken. But at this point, it's really not necessarily the concern for the winds. It's the concern for all of that extra rainfall that it's going to bring.

[13:55:07]

So you can see here, as it starts to slide up the east coast, it interacts with that front, really providing a lot of influx of moisture even into areas of the mid-Atlantic and the northeast.

So that's why you see we even have some flood watches out ahead for those areas in addition to all of the areas we still have along the southeast coast.

There is still going to be the excessive rainfall risk, not just today, but also into Wednesday for a lot of the same areas, that Wilmington down through Charleston area where we still anticipate getting several more inches of rain on top of what they've already had.

Some of these spots could still pick up an extra six to 10 inches, Omar, on top of what they've already had before this system is finally able to exit the area.

JIMENEZ: Yes, never underestimate the devastation of rain, especially prolonged rain like this can bring.

Allison Chinchar, really appreciate it.

All right, moments ago, the plane carrying Minnesota Governor Tim Walz touched down in Philadelphia. Kamala Harris, his new running mate, will appear a third just hours from now at a rally.

We're going to talk about the new Democratic ticket, and why Harris picked Walz, after a quick break. Stay with us.

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