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CNN International: Donald Trump Appeals $454 Million Civil Fraud Judgment; Biden Drops Out of White House Race, Endorses Kamala Harris; Vance Held His First Solo Campaign Rally on Monday; Netanyahu in Washington, Prepares to Address U.S. Congress; Palestinian Factions, Including Hamas and Fatah, Sign Agreement; Rare Bipartisan Calls for Secret Service Chief to Resign; Bipartisan Task Force Formed on Trump Assassination Attempt; Bodycam Video Shows Illinois Deputy Killing Black Woman in Her Home; Survey Shows Most Girls & Young Women Face Harm Online Regularly; France Launches Massive Security Operation for the Games; LeBron James Selected as Team U.S.A.'s Male Olympic Flag Bearer. Aired 8-9a ET
Aired July 23, 2023 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[08:00:00]
ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWSROOM": Hello and welcome to our viewers all around the world. I am Erica Hill; this is "CNN Newsroom." Just ahead
KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: -- million of the $454 million, they argue should also automatically be removed from this case. Now, of course, the judge had already heard many of these arguments during the trial; he rejected them outright. That is why it is on appeal and the New York attorney general's office will have their chance to respond against these -- this appeal. Their filing is due next month, and the appeals court could take this up as soon as September. Kate?
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": All right, good to see you, Kara. Thank you so much. A new hour of "CNN News Central" starts now.
MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWSROOM": Hello and welcome to our viewers around the world. I am Max Foster; this is "CNN Newsroom." Just ahead, getting behind Harris, Democratic delegates show support for the vice president as she prepares to hit the campaign trail, with our full coverage this hour. Plus, rival Palestinian factions signed a deal brokered by Beijing. What does the agreement between Hamas and Fatah mean for the Middle East? And CNN finds that young women around the world feel unsafe online. We'll bring you the shocking findings from our new survey.
Now, if there was ever any doubt about who the Democratic Party would turn to, if Joe Biden exited the presidential race, there isn't any now. Vice President Kamala Harris is it. She has already got the support of enough party delegates to ensure that she'll win the nomination in next month's Democratic Convention. Harris visited what had been a 'Biden For President' campaign office on Monday evening. It's now covered with 'Harris For President' signs. She travels to Wisconsin in just a few hours where she'll hold her first campaign rally. And we're already getting hints of how the former prosecutor plans to go after Donald Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS, (D) VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES AND PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: In those roles, I took on perpetrators of all kinds.
(LAUGH)
(Applause)
HARRIS: Predators who abused women, fraudsters who ripped off consumers, cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain. So hear me when I say, I know Donald Trump's type.
(CROWD CHEERING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Well, the next big question for Harris is who she'll pick for vice president? Sources tell CNN, she has begun the vetting process on about ten Democrats, including several swing state governors. With more on Harris' first day as the presumptive Democratic nominee, here is CNN's MJ Lee.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MJ LEE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Kamala Harris stepping into the brightest political spotlight of her career.
(APPLAUSE)
LEE (voice-over): The vice president making her inaugural visit Monday to what had been until Sunday, the Delaware headquarters of the Biden- Harris campaign, that quickly transformed into the Harris campaign, Harris rallying campaign staff at an unprecedented political moment. Following President Joe Biden's stunning announcement Sunday to drop out of the 2024 race, Harris earlier on Monday paying tribute to not only the president's first-term record --
HARRIS: Joe Biden's legacy of accomplishment over the past three years is unmatched in modern history.
LEE (voice-over): But also his character and his patriotism.
HARRIS: His honesty, his integrity, his commitment to his faith and his family, his big heart and his love, deep love of our country.
(APPLAUSE)
LEE (voice-over): With just 3.5 months until Election Day, Harris now running full steam ahead with Biden's full support and endorsement in hand. The new Harris campaign quickly staffing up and welcoming a boon in fund fundraising, team Harris boasting an $81 million haul in its first 24 hours, while Future Forward, a major Democratic Super PAC securing $150 million in commitments. Major Democratic donors making clear to CNN the money drought is over.
Her first order of business Sunday, reaching out to more than 100 individuals over the span of ten hours, including Democratic elected officials, labor leaders, and civil rights and advocacy leaders, a furious effort to quickly get the party to coalesce behind her in an unprecedented political moment.
REP. JIM CLYBURN, (D-SC): He decided not to run and so, I've decided to support Vice President Harris.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I support Vice President Harris.
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN, (D-MA): When you are up against a convicted felon, who better than a former prosecutor to take it straight to Donald Trump?
REP. ERIC STALWELL, (D-CA): I fully support Kamala Harris. And in fact, she has been trained by the best.
LEE (voice-over): Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who worked largely behind the scenes to nudge Biden towards his decision, publicly endorsing Harris on Monday. Other high-profile Democrats widely seen as having presidential aspirations of their own or potentially ending up on a future Harris VP shortlist, also getting behind Harris.
GOV. ANDY BESHEAR, (D-KY): The vice president is ready. She has my full endorsement. I'm going to do everything I can to support her.
LEE (voice-over): Biden's remarkable decision this weekend coming after he was presented with polling that showed his path to victory was basically non-existent, a person familiar telling CNN the decision so closely held, even senior-most advisors barely getting a heads up.
[08:05:00]
In a letter addressed to the American people, Biden writing it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and focus solely on fulfilling my duties as president for the remainder of my term.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: As we mentioned, Kamala Harris holds the first major event of her campaign in Wisconsin later today. CNN's Eva McKend is there with a preview. I mean, huge pressure because this is where she really sets out, what makes her different from Joe Biden, how she is going to campaign differently.
EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: It is tremendous pressure, but what I can tell you is that this former prosecutor is really eager to make her case and draw contrasts with former President Donald Trump. She will talk about how they have different visions for America. She accuses Trump of selling out working families, attacking reproductive freedom and undermining American democracy.
And although this is really unchartered territory for the vice president, in that she landed in this position under the most unusual she will of circumstances, she is in this position with relative strength. She raised over $100 million in just the last 48 hours, 62 percent of that came from first-time contributors, more than a million donors. Take a listen to what she told campaign staff yesterday at the campaign headquarters in Delaware, the first time she addressed that staff since President Biden announced that he would not be seeking re- election.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: So hear me when I say, I know Donald Trump's type.
(CROWD CHEERING)
HARRIS: Yeah. I specialized in cases involving sexual abuse. Donald Trump was found liable by a jury for committing sexual abuse. I took on the big Wall Street banks and won $20 billion for California families.
(CROWD CHEERING)
HARRIS: Holding those banks accountable for fraud. Donald Trump was just found guilty of 34 counts of fraud.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCKEND: And so beyond this contrast with Trump, what I can tell you is that there is a lot of energy and enthusiasm in the Democratic Party right now. I joined a call last night where there were thousands of black men from across the country. It was co-hosted by WinWithBlackMen. And essentially, they talked about being ambassadors in their respective communities for Harris and really how they have a unique opportunity to elect the first black female president. So, you are seeing a lot of support from some key Democratic coalitions from across the country.
FOSTER: Eva in Milwaukee. Thank you so much. J.D. Vance came out swinging in his first solo campaign rally, Donald Trump's vice presidential nominee, where it's (ph) on the attack against the new Democratic ticket. He called President Biden a quitter for pulling out of the presidential race and said Kamala Harris was complicit in what Republicans call a cover up of Joe Biden's mental state.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. J.D. VANCE, (R-OH) VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: You cannot, for 3.5 years, take a guy who clearly didn't have the mental capacity to do the job. Kamala Harris lied about it. My Senate Democratic colleagues lied about it. The media lied about it. Every single person who saw Joe Biden knew that he wasn't capable of doing the job. And for three years, they said nothing until he became political dead weight. (END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Donald Trump on Monday told Fox News, he chose J.D. Vance to be his running mate because they have a "automatic chemistry" and because Vance would stick up for him. Let's bring in Daniel Strauss, who is following the story for us from New York. I mean, are we getting a sense now about how they are going to switch tactic and confront Kamala Harris as opposed to Joe Biden?
DANIEL STRAUSS, CNN REPORTER: Hi from Washington, D.C., where what we're hearing from Republicans in general is that it's a bit of a trial period right now. They are trying out different attack lines for Democrats, partially just because Republicans did not quite expect a shift from Joe Biden to Kamala Harris this quickly. And this comes at a time where the party at large is trying to feel out the top of the ticket, J.D. Vance is a relatively unknown figure compared to Donald Trump within the party.
And so, the Republicans had been expecting for a little while now to be introducing him to the country and trying out Vance on the campaign trail and various attack lines against Joe Biden, not Harris. But what we've seen so far from both Donald Trump and J.D. Vance is a warning that Harris could be worse for Americans in the future, if elected. Take a listen.
[08:10:00]
OK, sorry, I thought we had the audio. So what we know here in general is that Republicans are discouraging Democrats, discouraging lawmakers and operatives from attacking Harris on the past. They want to criticize her and warn voters about the future and what she would do in the future as president. And this is a shift because for months, Republicans have been eager to attack Democrats as the party that is electing a -- or re-electing a president who is very, very soft-spoken and there are questions about his cognitive ability.
But in the past few days, we've seen a major shift, not just among Democrats, but Republicans as well.
FOSTER: She does seem to be leaning into her former role as a prosecutor, pitting the prosecutor against the felon as she would see it. Do you think that'll be a powerful line narrative that will resonate with voters?
STRAUSS: In the early few hours, I suppose, maybe days now that we've seen Harris as the presumptive -- I think actually of this morning, she is now the likely Democratic nominee. They have been eager to argue and highlight her record as a
prosecutor and contrast that with Donald Trump as a convicted felon. This is something that Democrats up until now have not so forcefully been executing on the campaign trail, but it's something that they are hopeful will be something of a major theme in the weeks and months to come for Harris and the Harris campaign.
FOSTER: OK. Daniel Strauss in Washington, thank you.
STRAUSS: Thanks.
FOSTER: Now, to the Israel-Hamas war. Authorities in Gaza, say at least 89 people have been killed as an Israeli military operation around the city of Khan Younis continues for a second day. Israel says it's targeting terrorist sites. Video from the east of Khan Younis shows hundreds of people, many on foot or on donkey carts, fleeing the area carrying mattresses and other belongings. One man told CNN, the Israeli army ordered people to evacuate and to go to a safe area, but he added nowhere is safe in Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in Washington, as talks on a ceasefire and the release of hostages remains stalled. He is set to meet Joe Biden on Thursday as the president recovers from COVID. On Monday evening, he met relatives of hostages held in Gaza and vowed to bring their loved ones home. Mr. Netanyahu addresses a joint session of Congress on Wednesday. Normally, the vice president would preside over that session, but Kamala Harris has declined to do so, saying it clashes with another event. She is expected to meet him later this week.
CNN's Arlette Saenz joins us now from Delaware where President Biden has been isolating. And it's interesting, I've seen the idea that now that Biden is no longer running in the election, he is freer to set a legacy, if you like. He has a freer hand in dealing with issues like the Middle East now that he is not running.
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Max, President Biden has made clear that one of his key priorities will be the conflict in Gaza. Yesterday, he called into a meeting of staff at his former campaign headquarters, now Vice President Harris' campaign headquarters. And in that call, he said he wants to use the next six months of his presidency to still work on major domestic and foreign policy issues, including the conflict in Gaza.
Now, the president specifically said that he is looking to find a way to end the conflict in Gaza, as well as bring the hostages back home to their families. He told his staff that he believes they are on the verge of being able to do that. Now, this is expected to be a key point of discussion when President Biden meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday. That date for the meeting had been in flux as the president has remained here in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware while experiencing -- continuing to experience COVID symptoms.
But, we have heard that that meeting will take place now on Thursday. The president also is expected to meet at some point later in the week with the families of the American hostages who are believed to be held in Gaza. Now at the same time, as you noted, Vice President Kamala Harris will not be attending Netanyahu's speech before Congress tomorrow. She declined the opportunity to preside over that discussion and ultimately, her aides say that they do expect that Harris will be meeting at some point this week with Netanyahu, though the details and timing for that have yet to take place.
But this is an area where President Biden believes that he can do significant work on. He has been pushing for a ceasefire deal and a deal to return the hostages back home for several months now.
[08:15:00]
But there has not been any concrete developments on that front, even as U.S. officials have been meeting with their Israeli counterparts, as well as other counterparts who are involved in the negotiations to try to get this across the finish line. So Biden has stressed that that will be one of his key priorities for him, as he is looking at the end of his presidency in the coming months, and that will be a huge focus of his talks this week with Netanyahu.
FOSTER: Is your sense that Kamala Harris' foreign policy on areas like the Middle East is in lockstep with President Biden, because I guess we're going to get the first sense of that at this meeting with Netanyahu she is going to have, if there are any nuances, then he is going to get a sense of them then.
SAENZ: Yeah , it will be interesting to see how Harris approaches, specifically this issue relating to the conflict between Hamas and Israel, especially at a time when that has been a key concern for many in the Democratic Party, especially with young voters as well as Arab American and Muslim American voters.
Now, Harris has been quite outspoken about some of the devastation that has taken place in Gaza. And in this whole process, one thing that has really been a key topic and issue that her team and she have focused on is trying to determine what the plan will be for Gaza after this conflict ends. So certainly, that is something that she brings to the table in these discussions, but she will -- it will be interesting to see how both the president and vice president navigate each other in this moment, as they are both eager for this conflict to end and return the hostages back home. But there could be some nuances in their positions and we'll see how that plays out in the coming days and weeks.
FOSTER: Arlette, thank you so much for joining us. Meanwhile, Palestinian factions, including Hamas and Fatah, have signed an agreement in Beijing. China, which hosted reconciliation talks involving 14 Palestinian factions, says the deal focuses on ending divisions between the groups and strengthening Palestinian unity. China has been trying to present itself as a potential peace broker since the start of the war in Gaza. We have a team covering this for you, Marc Stewart is in Beijing.
First though to Nada in London, you have (ph) been looking at the details of this deal and the significance. I mean, what do you make of it?
NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, this is a significant development. Certainly, a turning point in internal Palestinian relations, 14 factions coming together crucially among them, Hamas and Fatah, bitter rivals as they have been for years now, coming together to sign what is being described as a National Unity Agreement, essentially trying to ensure Palestinian control over the Gaza Strip in any sort of post-war governance structure that we might see, once and hopefully if the war in Gaza comes to an end. Now again, this is a significant in development. Fatah maintains significant control over the Palestinian authority in the Gaza Strip, that PA essentially lost control -- sorry, in the West Bank, the PA essentially lost control of the Gaza Strip back in 2007 following legislative elections just a year before when Hamas took control and since then there hasn't been a PA presence in the Gaza Strip. So this is a significant turning point.
It's unclear at this stage what sort of role Hamas would play in any sort of post-war structure, unclear what role they would play in this agreement with Fatah, of course, maintaining majority control over the Palestinian Authority. But we have heard from delegate representatives of Hamas describing this as a turning point, saying that we are at a historic junction, our people and his words are rising up in their efforts to struggle. But as you can imagine, this has drawn criticism from some Israeli officials. We have heard from the Israeli foreign minister rejecting any sort of idea that Hamas would have a role in Gaza's post-war governance.
We know that this is something that Israel is vehemently against, in fact Israeli officials have in the past suggested that there would be Israeli security control over the Gaza Strip in any sort of post-war governance. That has drawn backlash from members of the international community, including the United States, and there has been criticism from Israel now over the Palestinian Authority's decision to cooperate with Hamas in signing this deal.
But certainly, a turning point in those internal relations. Clearly, a move towards trying to maintain Palestinian control over the Gaza Strip. And of course, we know that those discussions are ongoing. Continued calls for some sort of Palestine State to be established in any sort of notion of a two-state solution. But again, that feels a long way off given where we are now in Gaza with the war still raging on.
FOSTER: And Marc, fascinated to see this taking place in China where normally it would be a western nation, wouldn't it, or Middle East nation hosting these sorts of negotiations. What do you think we can read into that?
MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right, Max, this seems so novel to see China involved in affairs in the Middle East. But, it's really not that unusual. In fact, for months now, we've been watching China really try to establish itself as an alternative to the West and the Middle East has been a place, a location in the world, where it has really tried to assert some of its political power, its role as a diplomat.
[08:20:00]
In fact, I remember, it was last fall when we saw Xi Jinping actually host Syria's Bashar al-Assad. So it all falls into that narrative. Now, in the case of this deal that Nada was reporting on, between Hamas and Fatah, the conversations didn't just happen. This is something that actually began back in April. We saw some talks facilitated by Beijing from back in April. And as we have mentioned, since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas, we have really seen China try to portray itself as a place where nations who don't see eye-to-eye with Israel and who believe in a Palestinian State, as a place for them to share their different opinions.
We should also point out that the Middle East is a part of the world where the United States has been a dominant power, but we are seeing China really trying to exert itself there. Most notably, it was last March when China played a very big role in trying to better the diplomatic relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia, after we have seen so much diplomatic attention between those two nations. So, China really trying to expand its reach on a global level, not just here in Asia, Max.
FOSTER: OK. Marc and Nada, thank you both very much indeed. One more note out of that region, masked Israeli settlers attacked a group of Palestinian farmers and foreign activists accompanying them for protection in the occupied West Bank. It happened in the town of Qusra on Sunday, according to victims of the attack and videos obtained by CNN. The activists were participating as part of a Palestinian grassroots campaign called Defend Palestine, which calls on international volunteers to travel to the West Bank to protect Palestinians from Israeli settler attacks. The IDF acknowledged the attack and said it condemns any acts of violence.
Republicans and Democrats rarely agree on anything, but members of both parties want the head of the U.S. Secret Service to go. The fallout from the assassination attempt on Donald Trump, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FOSTER: The head of the U.S. Secret Service is facing rare bipartisan calls to resign over the security failures at a campaign rally where a gunman tried to assassinate former President Trump. Kimberly Cheatle appeared before the House Oversight Committee on Monday, where she was grilled by both Republicans and Democrats. CNN's Whitney Wild has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REP. ANDY BIGGS, (R-AZ) HOUSE JUDICIARY AND OVERSIGHT AND ACCOUNTABILITY COMMITTEES: I call upon you to resign today -- today.
WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In a contentious Capitol Hill hearing, United States Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle found few allies. Now, bipartisan calls for her to resign as House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, who called her agency --
REP. JAMES COMER, (R-KY) CHAIRMAN, HOUSE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE: The face of incompetence.
[08:25:00]
WILD (voice-over): And Ranking Member Jamie Raskin says she must leave as a first step to allowing new leadership to swiftly address this crisis and rebuild the trust.
REP. RO KHANNA, (D-CA): I just don't think this is partisan. If you have an assassination attempt on a president, a former president, or a candidate, you need to resign.
WILD (voice-over): In the face of intense scrutiny, Director Cheatle immediately took responsibility for what she called a failure. The Secret Service's solemn mission is to protect our nation's leaders. On July 13th, we failed. As a Director of the United States Secret Service, I take full responsibility for any security lapse of our agency.
WILD (voice-over): However, for more than four hours, Cheatle refused to answer even the most basic questions nine days after the attempted assassination of Donald Trump.
KIMBERLEY CHEATLE, DIRECTOR, UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE: I would have to get back to you.
REP. NANCY MACE, (R-SC): That as a no, you're full of shit today.
WILD (voice-over): Cheatle was asked multiple times, why Secret Service agents weren't stationed on the roof where a gunman eventually shot Trump from a distance of less than 150 yards.
COMER: Can you answer why the Secret Service didn't place a single agent on the roof?
CHEATLE: We are still looking into the advance process and the decisions that were made.
COMER: OK. OK.
WILD (voice-over): Members of the Committee pressed Cheatle for answers about why the former president was allowed to take the stage even after she admitted the Secret Service had been notified between two and five times police were looking for suspicious person. Cheatle repeatedly said law enforcement didn't immediately determine that person who turned out to be the shooter was a threat.
CHEATLE: If the detail had been passed information that there was a threat, the detail would never have brought the former president out onto stage.
WILD (voice-over): The hearing comes as the agency admits it denied some requests for additional security from the Trump team in the two years leading up to the rally, though Cheatle denied anything was withheld on the day of the shooting.
CHEATLE: For the event in Butler, there were no requests that were denied. As far as requests --
REP. JIM JORDAN, (R-OH): Well, maybe they got tired of asking.
WILD (voice-over): The chorus for her resignation has only grown louder since she was confronted at the RNC in Milwaukee. SEN. MARSHA BLACKBURN, (R-TN): You owe the people answers.
WILD (voice-over): Still Cheatle says she has no plans to leave.
CHEATLE: I think that I am the best person to lead the Secret Service at this time.
FOSTER: Well, that was CNN's Whitney Wild reporting. And this is just in to CNN, the U.S. House Speaker and the Democratic House Leader have announced they have formed a bipartisan task force to look into the assassination attempt on Donald Trump. The leaders say the aim of the task force is to find the facts, ensure accountability, and make sure such failures never happen again.
Well, still to come, moving right along on the first full day of her campaign, Kamala Harris picks up enough delegates' support to win the Democratic presidential nomination. We'll look at who she might call on as a running mate. But then police in Illinois released body camera footage leading up to the fatal shooting of a black woman in her home, ahead, why it's sparking criticism and outrage.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:30:55]
FOSTER: Talking about our top story, Kamala Harris has already shored up the support that she needs to be the Democratic presidential nominee. And she is also getting the support of George Clooney who just endorsed her for president.
Harris alongside her husband, Doug, made her first stop at her campaign headquarters in Delaware on Monday as the Democratic candidate at the top of the ticket. Today, she is set to visit the battleground state of Wisconsin and speak to supporters in Milwaukee. Sources tell CNN that the Harris campaign has begun vetting possible running mates, several high-profile governors thought to be potential candidates for the job, including Michigan's Gretchen Whitmer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TIM SKUBICK, CBS AFFILIATE WLNS CORRESPONDENT: Are you prepared to take the vice presidency if it's offered, ma'am?
GOV. GRETCHEN WHITMER, (D-MI): No, I'm not planning to go anywhere.
SKUBICK: So if they offered, you will not take it?
WHITMER: I am not leaving Michigan. I'm proud to be the governor of Michigan, I've been consistent. I know everyone is always suspicious and asking this question over and over again. I know you are doing your job. I'm not going anywhere.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Our Brian Todd has a look at other Democrats then who could be on the list of potential VP picks. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If Kamala Harris is the Democratic nominee, she has what many regard as a deep bench to choose from for a running mate.
EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: Now Kamala Harris, it seems like, will have a lot of options to choose from as she tries to figure out what kind of balance she wants to put out, what kind of additional arguments she wants on the ticket.
TODD (voice-over): CNN's Jeff Zeleny citing people familiar with the process, reports Democratic lawyers are vetting potential vice presidential hopefuls and that Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, and Arizona Senator Mark Kelly are among Democrats have been asked to submit financial information and other personal details.
GOV. JOSH SHAPIRO, (D-PA): I'm not going to engage in hypotheticals. This is a deeply personal decision.
TODD (voice-over): The 51-year-old Shapiro has high approval ratings in Pennsylvania and simply benefits from being from that crucial swing state.
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: He's very popular. He's very skilled, and maybe most importantly, Pennsylvania is a state that Democrats almost certainly can't win without.
TODD (voice-over): Cooper from North Carolina is also popular analysts say in a state that the Democrats try to win, but rarely do, especially in important national races. He praised Harris on Monday on MSNBC.
GOV. ROY COOPER, (D-NC): She's going to bring that excitement to the people that we need to bring to the polls -- the young people, women, suburban women.
TODD (voice-over): Kelly, a military veteran and former astronaut, rose to prominence when his wife, former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, survived an assassination attempt.
SEN. MARK KELLY, (D-AZ): Really nice day here in Washington.
TODD (voice-over): He's well-regarded nationally, but also occupies a Senate seat in Arizona that the Democrats might have trouble holding onto in 2026, if he were to become vice president.
DOVERE: He has won in a state that Democrats want to keep winning it, makes it maybe a little hard for people to think that they should take him out of that seat.
TODD (voice-over): Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, a youthful 46- years-old, has also been floated as a potential running mate for Harris. On MSNBC, he touted his ability to win multiple elections in a deep red state. GOV. ANDY BESHEAR, (D-KY): I was re-elected by my five percentage points. Being a Democrat in Kentucky, that's like 30. Anywhere else --
TODD: Whoever Kamala Harris picks will obviously have to be adept at debating J.D. Vance. But Analyst Edward-Isaac Dovere says, we shouldn't focus too much attention on that because he believes Kamala Harris will likely want her running mate to make this race as much about Donald Trump as possible.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: A whirlwind couple of days, Kamala Harris has raised more than $100 million since Sunday, would you believe? That's according to her campaign. Democratic strategist, Aisha Mills joins me live from New York. Thank you so much for joining us.
I mean, she couldn't have hit the ground running stronger, could she really? Suddenly picking up all those delegates, she has got the money from the donors, lot of Hollywood support, even Beyonce is lending her song too for the campaign.
[08:35:00]
Now, the real test begins. Can she convince people that she is that different from Biden and can to win against Trump?
AISHA MILLS, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, here's the thing. First of all, thank you for having me. The fact that the vice president instantly raised $100 million, had a call on the night of the announcement where 44,000 black women alone showed up to a virtual call, raised $1 million. You've got people coming out of the woodwork who we're sitting on the fence, including myself, with this election, a little bit tepid, certainly going to vote and say great things about the Democrats, but not super inspired, that are coming out posting, jazzed up.
It really is demonstrating why it was so important for President Biden, who we all love and respect, to show this kind of last act of grace for the nation and to do what is right and to move aside because what Democrats -- the secret sauce for Democrats, I should say, what we always need to win is just enthusiasm and excitement because we have the (inaudible) and the reality is that Vice President Harris is a reflection of the America that we all know, that we are in our hearts.
Donald Trump does not reflect and represent us. He is a vestige of a nasty, horrific past that is trying to create an even worse future with his vice president, who was a complete and total disaster for women, for people of color, for immigrants, for poor people, despite what they might say. And so, Vice President Harris is able to galvanize the enthusiasm of an entire nation that is multi-ethnic, diverse, multi-cultural, it is more than half women. We care about the same liberal progressive values of inclusion that she is going to talk about on the campaign trail. So she is able to galvanize the hearts and minds of people and that is why we see folks going crazy over the last 48 hours. And I just can't imagine how the Republicans are able to stop this energy, because once we get going, you can't put that energy back into a bottle.
FOSTER: It's a numbers game, ultimately, isn't it? Who can win the right votes in the right places? If she does really mobilize or sort of energize then two groups, let's take African-American voters and Hispanic voters, a lot of candidates in the past have struggled to always mobilize them, to get them to the actual vote. It is that extra push, isn't it? Not just to infuse them, to actually get them out on the day and vote, how do you think she can do that?
MILLS: For sure. I mean, at the end of the day, it really is about who cast their votes. And in the United States, the Republican Party has done a really wicked job of voter suppression. State-by-state-by- state, they have worked to change the laws to make the hours for voting at the polls shorter. They have limited polling site, so people have to wait longer in order to vote, particularly in those communities of color that you just named.
They are doing their best to keep people from being able to vote early, to remove the ability to vote by mail, anything that would make it convenient for people to participate in our democracy, they have constantly been in trying to suppress. And so, that energy and enthusiasm that Kamala Harris brings to this race is on a guaranty that people stand in those lines, even if it takes five to six hours, like it has in the past, that people have bus rides to go to the polls to make sure that their neighbors and their church members and folks who don't have cars are able to get to the polls to vote. And so that organizing spirit is really going to be at the core of what puts her over.
But I want to come back to something that you said, I appreciate you recognizing that, it is a numbers game. And just to kind of remind us and ground us in what the electorate looks like for Democrats, there is often a obsession with pandering to this movable middle or this moderate white voter in the United States that, frankly, has become quite the figment of our imagination in my humble opinion, because the Democrats -- the Democrat who has won the presidency has not received a majority of the white American vote since the 1960s.
The Democrats who win the presidency in this country always do so with less than 45 percent of the white vote. Barack Osama in 2012 only got 39 percent of white people to vote for him. Joe Biden only got 43 percent of white folks to vote for him. So, what does that mean from a numbers perspective? What that reminds us is that the Democratic big tech coalition is absolutely powered by black voters, Latino voters, young people, and liberal white people as well.
[08:40:00]
It is together unified in numbers that we have the power and that is why the Democrats win. And that is why Kamala Harris is the perfect candidate at this moment in time. Because what is happening on the other side is that they are doing their best to winnow the number of voters first that they have into a very small, nasty, narrow-minded select group of, frankly, white Americans who are the minority in this country. And they can't win by making their coalition smaller, by eliminating people from it. And the Democrats continue to pick up steam, bringing people together, really bringing in the full fabric of America and so that is why we're going to win. It's why we always win.
FOSTER: OK. Aisha Mills, really appreciate your analysis today. Thank you so much for joining us.
MILLS: Thank you.
FOSTER: U.S. President Joe Biden says Sonya Massey's family deserves justice and he believes the 36-year-old mother should be alive today. New bodycam video shows Illinois police officers shooting the unarmed black woman in her home while she called 911 to report a possible prowler. CNN's Lucy Kafanov shows us that video, which we want to warn you is disturbing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LUCY KAFANOV, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Bodycam footage showing the moments just before 36-year-old Sonya Massey was fatally shot in her Springfield, Illinois home by a responding sheriff's deputy after she called 911 about a prowler. No intruder was found. The footage released by the Illinois State Police Monday shows Deputy Sean Grayson interacting with Massey, even laughing.
DEPUTY SEAN GRAYSON, ILLINOIS STATE POLICE: Where you moving?
SONYA MASSEY, VICTIM: What?
GRAYSON: Away from your hot steaming water.
MASSEY: Away from my hot steaming water?
GRAYSON: Yeah.
MASSEY: I rebuke you in the name of Jesus. I rebuke you in the name of --
GRAYSON: You better (expletive) not. I swear to God. I'll shoot you on your face.
MASSEY: OK, I'm sorry.
GRAYSON: Drop the (expletive) pot. Drop the (expletive) pot.
KAFANOV (voice-over): Three shots were fired.
BEN CRUMP, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Her last words, sorry. Sir, I'm sorry. She ducks (ph) and when she stands back up, he shoots her in the face.
KAFANOV (voice-over): Massey family attorney Ben Crump and Massey's father reacting to the shooting. JAMES WILBURN, SONYA MASSEY'S FATHER: This man should have never had a badge, he should have never had a gun. He should have never been given the opportunity to kill my child. I want justice for my baby.
CRUMP: Yeah. Yes, sir.
(APPLAUSE)
CRUMP: Yes, sir.
WILBURN: You killed the wrong black woman this time.
KAFANOV (voice-over): The video's release comes about two weeks after Massey was killed and just days after Grayson was fired from his job and charged with first-degree murder, amongst other charges. Grayson has pleaded not guilty. Video of the shooting and the deputy's response comes from his partner's body camera. When Grayson's partner offers to get his medical kit, Grayson says Massey does not need medical help.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible).
GRAYSON: I am not taking hot boiling water to the f* face
KAFANOV (voice-over): According to court documents, Grayson's camera was not turned on until after the shooting, and it records him explaining his actions that night.
GRAYSON: She said she was going to rebuke me in the name of Jesus and came out with boiling water.
KAFANOV (voice-over): After the footage was released, outrage at the police killing of another unarmed black woman in recent years.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We want justice for Sonya Massey.
(Applause)
CRUMP: Justice for Sonya Massey.
KAFANOV (voice-over): And an outpouring of support, including a statement from President Joe Biden saying Massey's family deserves justice.
CRUMP: Where is the humanity? Where is the training? Until we get justice for Sonya Massey, we rebuke this discriminatory criminal justice system in the name of Jesus.
KAFANOV (voice-over): Lucy Kafanov, CNN, Chicago.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Now, the online world can be a scary place for young people, especially for young women and girls. Up next, the stunning results of a survey looking at the dangers they face when going online.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:46:21]
FOSTER: Alarming new findings about the dangers girls and young women face online. CNN and Plan International spoke to more than 600 women and girls aged 13 to 24 across nine countries, and they report everything from receiving unwanted sexual content or messages, or it could be hate speech, cyber bullying, or threats of sexual violence. Those responding said they want much better support to stay safe online. Some of them added, they have no one -- they have no one informed or powerful enough to turn to for help. Anna Stewart has details of a CNN project called "As Equals" which investigates gender inequality.
Of course, it's not something you necessarily want to speak about either, if you get caught up with that.
ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Depressingly, some people might not be that surprised by the ultimate sort of result of this survey, but some of the numbers are quite shocking. Overall, 75 percent of the teenagers and young women surveyed have experienced some sort of online harm. And if we get that break down again, we can show you the sort of harm we're talking about. 44 percent report seeing, receiving unwanted sexual images or videos; 37 percent report receiving inappropriate sexual messages or comments. There is also of course, discrimination, hate speech, cyber bullying, threats of sexual violence, and for one out of ten of those surveyed, they experience this every day or almost daily, which is really quite extraordinary. And one and three, more than a third have reported feeling sad, depressed, stressed, worried, or anxious as a result.
FOSTER: I mean, was there something -- I mean, you've reported on these sorts of trends in the past, but is it the fact that it was daily abuse that hit you there?
A. STEWART: I think for me, I'm shocked that this could be happening on a daily basis to so many girls and women, and that this is such a global issue. This is not an issue just in the West. This is across Africa, Asia. This was a really big survey that CNN and Plan International did. What was interesting was what they said in terms of who is responsible for your own online safety. Now 67 percent, the vast majority said online safety is their own responsibility and actually only 11 percent think that tech companies are responsible. I found that slightly surprising.
We also asked which platforms they are finding sort of the worst in terms of online harm, you'll see that Facebook has 72 percent -- Meta- owned Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram. CNN reached out to TikTok and Meta about the results of this survey, both pointed to all sorts of things they are doing already to try and reduce the harm for teenagers specifically, I think we had a direct comment from Meta as well saying they are working with experts like Plan International, the NGO which works on the survey, to try and reduce harm further.
FOSTER: It does come down to -- I mean, when they say it's their responsibility, they largely right, aren't they? Because a lot of these platforms rely on self-policing and reporting. They only act on things when they are reported in to them.
A. STEWART: Yeah.
FOSTER: So that's the reality.
A. STEWART: Well, you would kind of hope that an algorithm perhaps could pick up --
FOSTER: Yeah.
A. STEWART: -- some of this online harms sooner, but yes, and 61 percent of those surveyed would like better education and programs in schools, in universities, so that they it can better protect themselves and understand how to do it. But how frustrating that for so many people, it is an issue of just blocking a contact. But if you are experiencing this daily or almost daily, that's a lot for these young people to be dealing with.
FOSTER: And they grow up feeling as if it's normal.
A. STEWART: Well, remains to be seen. This next-generation, of course, will have a very different experience than we had. And part of the problem for them is their parents and their teachers, the eldest of generation --
[08:50:00]
FOSTER: Don't get it.
A. STEWART: -- they don't know how to better protect them.
FOSTER: Yeah. OK, Anna, thank you so much.
How do you keep over 10 million visitors safe? That is the challenge French law enforcement faces with a Summer Olympics in Paris, a look at what they have in place in terms of plans.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FOSTER: France really is pulling out all the stops to protect the Olympic Games. With just three days until the spotlight shines on Paris, the country's national terror alert remains at its highest level. Something like 45,000 police and soldiers will be on duty to keep the opening ceremony secure. CNN's Melissa Bell has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Paris is taking no chances. Hopes of a spectacular Olympic stalked by fears of the worst.
BELL: Part of the problem for French authorities is the sheer ambition that lies at the heart of these games. For the very first time, an Olympic opening ceremony is going to happen not inside a stadium, but actually through the main city (ph) on its main (ph) artery on the Seine River itself. BELL (voice-over): Despite a terror threat in France that's still at
its highest level, some 320,000 people are expected to line the banks of the river over six kilometers to watch, the biggest crowd ever to attend such an event in person.
GEN. ERIC CHASBEOUF, OLYMPIC GAMES MILITARY FORCES: We'll have more than 10,000 soldiers, more than 35,000 policemen. It will be completely secure.
BELL (voice-over): Street patrols leave regularly from the largest military camp erected in France since the end of World War II. And beyond the terror threat, there are also fears linked to crime, social unrest, and cyber attacks.
NICOLAS NORMAN, PARIS DEPUTY MAYOR FOR SECURITY (through translator): There are lots of exercises, crises, simulations, sometimes quite extraordinary events where everyone during an entire day tries to anticipate and then to manage them. And so today, we're ready and we're calm.
(Crowd Cheering)
BELL (voice-over): The Olympic flame arrived in Paris to welcoming crowds, but nothing compared to what is to come.
(APPLAUSE)
BELL (voice-over): Officials say that some 10 million to 15 million people are expected, far too many for human eyes only to watch. So AI has been brought in to help monitor CCTV.
MATTHIAS HOULLIER, CO-FOUNDER, WINTICS: They need to detect abnormal situations, like, for example, when there is intrusion of people on railways, when there is unattended item that could be suspicious package, et cetera. We detect them and then the operator gets notified in real time, so that he can decide what should be done.
BELL (voice-over): An unprecedented security operation made up of police, military, foreign forces, and even AI startups that officials hope has made Paris ready for anything.
Melissa Bell, CNN, Paris.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Basketball Superstar LeBron has been chosen to be the U.S. Flag-bearer for the opening ceremony of the Paris Game. So, Team U.S.A. posted a video showing the moment he found out he'd been selected.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On behalf of the entire men's Olympic basketball team, we would like to nominate LeBron James to be the flag bearer for all of Team U.S.A.
He got that, honor. So you get to wave the flag in Paris, my man.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Well, the Lakers Superstar will be the first male basketball player to carry the flag for the U.S. And James said it was an honor.
[08:55:00]
A final note before we go, on Kamala Harris taking the mantle of Democrat's presumptive nominee. In her appearance at her Delaware campaign office on Monday night, she walked out to a particular song.
(CROWD CHEERING)
FOSTER: That is the Grammy nominated 'Freedom' by Beyonce. It was an anthem of the 'Black Lives Matter' movement in 2020. Bey is known for being pretty protective about her songs and the Harris campaign had to get permission to use it. Beyonce hasn't publicly endorsed Harris yet, but has backed Democratic candidates in past several presidential elections.
Now, thank you for joining me here on CNN. I'm Max Foster. "Connect The World" with Eleni is up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
