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Abortion Rights Litmus In Ohio; Judge Sets Friday Hearing On Handling Of Evidence In 2020 Election Subversion Case Against Trump; Ron DeSantis Replaces His Campaign Manager. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired August 09, 2023 - 02:00   ET

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

[02:00:00]

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: In a new court filing, Smartmatic says "The dog ate my homework since the dawn of time people have made up

excuses to avoid doing things they do not want to do." This is exactly what Giuliani has done here. We should note, CNN has reached out to Giuliani's attorney for comment. We have not yet heard back.

Thank you so much for joining us. The news continues right here on CNN.

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church. Just ahead on CNN NEWSROOM. Ohio voters go to the polls in a crucial new litmus test on abortion rights in America more than a year after Roe versus Wade was overturned. Bring on the bleeps a cussing Donald Trump rails against the indictments levied against him.

And charges and arrest warrants in Alabama after a massive Riverfront brawl and the questions police have after reviewing the tape.

ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center. This is CNN NEWSROOM with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: Good to have you with us. Well, we begin with a crucial victory for abortion rights activists in Ohio. Voters on Tuesday rejected a Republican-backed measure that would have made it harder to amend the state's constitution. Now this comes ahead of a November ballot in which voters will decide whether to enshrine abortion rights in the state's constitution. With nearly 90 percent of the votes counted, 56 percent of the people have voted no while 44 percent said yes.

Tuesday was the first of a two-step process to determine whether November's (INAUDIBLE) a simple majority. CNN's Jeff Zeleny breaks it all down for us.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF U.S. NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Ohio voters roundly rejected efforts to make it more difficult to amend the state's constitution in the nation's latest fight over the abortion battle. A special election called in Ohio to raise the threshold to amend the state's constitution with the November ballot in mind when there will be a question about enshrining abortion rights protection was defeated.

The vote no side of the equation, defeated the vote yes side. This was all on measure called Issue One. It would have required a 60 percent supermajority to change the state's constitution. Again, this would affect abortion and other matters. But it certainly was in one year after the Supreme Court overturned Roe versus Wade. This is the latest example that we've seen across the country of support for abortion rights winning out.

Now this is the beginning of the campaign and supporters made that clear in Columbus, Ohio --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DENNIS WILLARD, SPOKESPERSON, ONE PERSON ONE VOTE: Ohio, we did it. We did it. Tonight is a major victory for democracy in Ohio. The majority still

rules in Ohio. And the people's power has been preserved. We did in it, Ohio. We did it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENSKY: So, with one campaign over another campaign is beginning and that is for the effort for the November ballot to enshrine abortion rights in the state's constitution. There is no doubt between now and then certainly abortion will play a front role in the conversation here, but also in the 2024 presidential campaign as well. The outcome of this race will test the political potency for the abortion rights issue that we have seen so many examples of since the Supreme Court overturned Roe versus Wade. Ohio being the latest.

Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Columbus, Ohio.

CHURCH: Lindy Lee is a political strategist and women's co-chair of the Democratic National Committee. And she joins me now from Philadelphia in Pennsylvania. Thank you so much for being with us.

LINDY LI, POLITICAL STRATEGIST: Thank you so much, Rosemary.

CHURCH: So, Ohio voters have rejected Issue One in a significant win for supporters of abortion rights after the ballot measure was pushed very hard by the state's Republican-led Congress in an effort to make it harder to enshrine abortion rights in the Constitution, but they failed in that effort. So, what is your reaction to the result?

LI: I am absolutely floored but not at all surprised by the vehemence and the power of women and our allies in the -- after Dobbs. Ohio voters just repeated the anti-abortion measure by double digits. Not only that, last year, Kansas trounced an abortion ban despite the Catholic Church spending $3 million, despite waves of money coming in from outside groups.

[02:05:11]

Badly gerrymandered Wisconsin elected a pro-choice judge by double digits. So, Republicans are notice. The more they come after us, women, the more they lose. It's a losing formula that they just can't seem to shake.

CHURCH: And this special election in Ohio has made that state the latest battleground for abortion rights. Does this represent a wake-up call for the Republicans do you think on the issue of abortion rights in this country?

LI: I mean, you would think so, but it appears to me that there -- instead of shying away from their deeply unpopular policies, Republicans are doubling down on their right-wing extremism despite repeated and overwhelming evidence that their heinous policies are electoral kryptonite. Frankly, we have nobody but themselves to blame. And what I find particularly galling is that initially, they said that special elections are a waste of money, that the summer doldrums and August are terrible time to have an election, which is true, people aren't around, and it's extremely expensive.

And they also said, Republicans mind you, that special elections is just an opportunity for special interests to squeeze through your own agenda. And a few weeks after all that, they voted in favor of a special election when they realized that abortion rights advocates had enough signatures to get on the November ballot. So that is the height of hypocrisy.

CHURCH: And a new CNN poll shows a majority of Americans 64 percent disapprove of the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade a year ago. 36 percent approve. If these numbers reflect the voting intentions of Americans in the 2024 presidential election, and if the Ohio special election turns out to be a litmus test for abortion rights in this country. Do you expect abortion rights to become a much bigger issue than Republicans realize?

And perhaps even voters realize even perhaps one of the main issues for American voters?

LI: Oh, absolutely. I think this perhaps other than the economy, this is the main issue because it strikes at the heart of humanity. This is at the very core of who women are. And this isn't simply a partisan issue. Let's look at what happened in Ohio. We have Republican stakeholders and well-respected leaders on both sides of the aisle saying that this is anti-democratic, government case which even voices just had saying that the referendum is anti-democratic.

On the other side, you have people like Senator J.D. Vance trying to gaslight everyone, because let's be very clear. The initiative to raise the referendum threshold to 60 percent isn't to protect the American people. It's to protect politicians from the will of American people. So, it's completely backwards and I think by doubling down over and over again, Republicans are digging the hole even deeper.

CHURCH: Lindy Li, thanks for joining us. Appreciate it.

LI: Thank you so much.

CHURCH: A U.S. District Judge is rejecting a delay request from Donald Trump's legal team scheduling a hearing for this Friday. She is trying to decide on rules for handling evidence in the case against the former U.S. president for trying to overturn the 2020 election. Trump does not have to go in person. But on the campaign trail in New Hampshire Tuesday, he complained about how his legal troubles are affecting his presidential run.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I won't be able to go to Iowa today. I won't be able to go to New Hampshire today because I'm sitting in a courtroom on (BLEEP) because his attorney general charged me with something. Terrible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Scott Jennings is a CNN senior political commentator. He joins me now from Louisville, Kentucky. Good to have you with us.

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Thank you.

CHURCH: So, Donald Trump suffered a big setback Tuesday in his attempt to delay the hearing of his January 6 case. The judge rejecting his legal team's efforts to move it to next week. But while Trump's strategy to delay proceedings appears to be failing, at the same time, his support rises, doesn't it? Every time his legal woes deepen, how inevitable is it that the Republican Party will head into the 2024 November elections with an indicted perhaps convicted presidential nominee? And what impact will that have on this country?

JENNINGS: Well, he's certainly the leader in the Republican primary right now. But you alluded to the calendar and this is what's very important is that there's a possibility that Donald Trump could become the de facto nominee of the Republican Party. Sometime in the spring of next year. Then face trial, then be convicted and then go to the Republican National Convention in August to get formally nominated.

[02:10:06]

But at that point as a convicted felon and if that were to happen, the Republicans on the floor of that convention would have a big choice to make about whether they really wanted to nominate formally. It could fell into represent their party. Of course, for Donald Trump, the entire campaign is about the charges. His defense is winning the White House. So, the campaign is the defense and the defense is the campaign.

His best way out of most of this is to win the White House and either pardon himself or ask the Department of Justice at that point under his control to let it all go.

CHURCH: Right. And you mentioned the calendar. We were just looking at it there. Trump claims that his court calendar is blocking his campaign for the White House, but he doesn't need to be in the courtroom, certainly not on this coming Friday. What's his strategy here, just to rile up his base?

JENNINGS: Well, he's not wrong about next year. When these cases actually go to trial, he will have to be in the courtroom. So right now, he's under indictment in the city of New York. He's under two federal indictments. One in Washington and one in Florida. And he's quite likely to be under indictment in Atlanta, Georgia here in the next couple of weeks. So, there are numerous jurisdictions where he would have to appear next year.

But right now, I think his main strategy is to try to delay all of this and get this punted until after the election. I think the American people would like to see these cases resolved before the election, but his best legal strategy may be to try to get them all delayed until after next November.

CHURCH: And of course, meantime, GOP presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis is struggling financially and losing traction in his effort to stay viable as he trails Trump in the fight for the White House. DeSantis just fired his campaign manager and replaced her with a loyalist. The third time in less than a month that he has tried to restructure his team. Will any of this make changes or will it help DeSantis political fortunes in any way?

What do you think went wrong for his campaign because he seemed to start strong there and he's lost his way?

JENNINGS: Well, DeSantis is still solidly in second place. He's the only candidate that's still in double digits against Donald Trump. But what happened to Ron DeSantis was Donald Trump. Trump has gotten stronger since the beginning of the year, and about half or a little more than half of the Republican Party appears to want to renominate Donald Trump. The other half that's looking for another candidate or maybe looking for another candidate.

They've divided their loyalties. Some are for DeSantis. Some are for Tim Scott. Some are for the other candidates that are in the race. So while Trump has gotten stronger, the fragmentation over the other part of the field has only gotten larger, and that really has prevented DeSantis from rising in the polls. I still think DeSantis is not out of it. I don't think the race is over. But right now, if you were laying down 20 bucks in a betting market on this thing, certainly Donald Trump is the smartest money, but just say there's a lot of miles yet to travel.

The Iowa caucus isn't until January and between now and then lots of things are going to happen. Trump's likely to be indicted again. There's going to be several debates in the Republican primary and some debates do provide a moment for candidates to break out and get more attention for their candidacy and get people to give them a second look.

CHURCH: And we'll be watching very carefully, of course. Scott Jennings, thanks so much for your political analysis. Appreciate it.

JENNINGS: Thank you.

CHURCH: House Republicans are pushing to open an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden before the end of this year. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy says they're still gathering evidence and have yet to decide. Other Republicans say the investigation would focus on Mr. Biden's alleged ties to his son Hunter's business dealings. Democrats say the GOP is desperate to distract voters from Donald Trump's criminal indictments.

Well, someone in the U.S. is waking up as a brand-new billionaire. A single ticket sold at a Publix and Neptune Beach, Florida matched all six winning numbers in Tuesday's Mega Millions drawing worth an estimated $1.58 billion. The game's largest jackpot ever. Those lucky numbers were 32, 19, 13, 33, 20 and the Mega Ball was 14. The winner can choose to get the full amount spread out over 29 years or take a lump sum payment of $783 million both before taxes.

Well, coming up next. Ukraine's president says his country's counteroffensive is happening slower than some had hoped. More on his comments and what Western officials say about the progress made so far.

Plus, in the trenches. A rear view of what some Ukrainian soldiers face on the frontlines as they dodge Russian strikes to recover comrades killed in the fight.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:18:40]

CHURCH: The mayor of Moscow says two combat drones have been shot down in the city's suburbs. He says the country's air defense took down the drones that were attempting to fly over Moscow on Tuesday.

Meantime, inside Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is acknowledging his country's highly anticipated counteroffensive against Russia has been difficult. That comment coming as Western officials described to CNN and increasingly sobering assessment about Ukraine's ability to retake significant territory.

CNN's Clare Sebastian joins me now live from London. Good morning to you, Clare. So, what's happening on the battlefield as Ukraine's counteroffensive moves much slower than hoped?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Rosemary. Ukraine seems to be concentrating its efforts down in the south and the Zaporizhzhia and also in the east around Bakhmut. They have this week claimed some success in both those areas. But the issues that were raised by these Western officials Speaking to CNN are playing out. A commander in the parrhesia on Tuesday, saying that their advanced was slowed down by minefields and their lack of aviation.

That is exactly what Western officials have been talking about. The scale of the Russian defenses, these layers of minefields and trenches and bunkers and things like that have been a real factor in the slow speed of this counteroffensive.

[02:20:04]

So that is one thing Russia is focusing its main offensive operation up in the north around Kupiansk trying to retake territory that it took at the beginning of the war then lost in one of Ukraine's other counteroffensives last autumn now trying to retake it again. President Zelenskyy acknowledging that things have been going slower than expected. He is urging patience from Ukraine's Western allies.

And if you listen to John Kirby, the spokesman for the U.S. National Security Council, they have that patience, at least for now. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KIRBY, ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR THE BUREAU OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS: I think every ally, every partner, every nation, and there's more than 50 of them, including, of course, the United States that are involved in supporting Ukraine feels responsible for helping Ukraine be successful on the battlefield. Nobody wants to see them struggle. But -- and like I said, even they admit that they're struggling and they're not doing as well as they like.

So, we're all going to be dedicated to continuing to help them get what they need. And if that means more training, than more training it'll be. If that means more capabilities, then more capabilities it will be. We're all in this together, we all want to see them succeed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SEBASTIAN: He's also training another security assistance package from the U.S. coming later this week. But there is more than just time pressure when it comes to the changing seasons, Rosemary. There is political pressure as well. I want to show you a CNN poll that was put out just a few days ago that shows that right now 51 percent of Americans say that the U.S. has already done enough to help Ukraine. 48 percent think they should do more versus 62 percent at the beginning of the war in the first couple of days of the conflict.

We thought the U.S. should do more to help Ukraine. So that may suggest that in some circles in the U.S. there is an element of fatigue. This is something we know President Zelenskyy is worried about and something for him to factor in as he continues with this counteroffensive. Rosemary?

CHURCH: All right. Our thanks to Clare Sebastian joining us live from London.

Well, CNN is getting a rare look inside the trenches in southern Ukraine where some forces are tasked with a grim job recovering the bodies of those killed in battle. And Nick Paton Walsh has the story but we warn you, some images in this report are graphic.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Even saving the dead can be lethal work. It is dawn in freshly overrun Russian positions on the southern front where the assault is on trench networks spread out in the open.

This is rare footage letting us see the point of view of a Ukrainian soldier and body collector Dachas Slav (ph). His unit tasked with bringing back the fallen, their own, but also Russian. This Ukrainian body seeming to have almost melted into the ground. The heat speeding up decay. Another factor in this grim grueling work where they are often guided to their targets by the smell from which the masks aren't protection enough.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (text): You will puke later. Now switch off your brain, do the job. There's a drone. It's not a plane. It's clearly not ours.

WALSH (voiceover): Russian drone see them and they watch them back.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (text): Watch it. There it is.

WALSH (voiceover): Anti-drone rifles a modern twist in trench warfare from the last century.

It is exhausting work. While troops here focus on survival and taking cover, Dachas Slav and his team must carry these heavy but vital burdens all the way back to the road where they can then bring closure to the grieving. The chance of burial and a goodbye.

A week earlier in another part of the trenches with a fight has clearly been ferocious. They pass Western-supplied armor that has been torn apart.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (text): Whose uniform is that? So it's our boy.

WALSH (voiceover): Ukrainian remains found but the shelling is constant.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (text): That was quite close. There were seven incoming in total. And precise. Somebody has to be here. There's a smell.

WALSH (voiceover): The search however in these captured Russian positions is cautious probing each spot for minds.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (text): I pulled out half the body from the dirt. The other half we don't know where it is.

WALSH (voiceover): For the men holding the position, day and night, body collectors a welcome relief. Taking away the reminders of how close the death is.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (text): We move fast and stay put.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (text): Whose drone is that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (text): Who knows?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (text): Shoot it down.

[02:25:02]

WALSH (voiceover): The Russians still looking for targets here. Among the men rescuing Russian corpses. UNIDENTIFIED MALE (text): I understand why the Russians don't let us just carry out their bodies. They know it's mostly their bodies.

WALSH (voiceover): This is the work nobody ever wanted to do out exposed in the open as Ukraine praise for a breakthrough. Now we finally see Dachas Slav's face in the moment when they know they've survived another day.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (text): Coming back home is the best thing possible.

WALSH (voiceover): The relief they feel here nothing compared to the families who may feel some less agony and closure. From the cargo they returned home. Nick Paton Walsh CNN, Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Still to come. New charges in Alabama after a Riverfront brawl that started with a group of white men assaulting a black man.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:30:00]

CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone.

Alabama police say the three white men are facing assault charges after a footage showed them attacking a black man who was the captain of a boat trying to dock. And that initial fight over the weekend quickly turned into a chaotic brawl. One man has already turned himself in, and authorities say the other two are expected to follow suit. CNN's Ryan Young has the latest on the investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLAYTON THOMAS, WITNESS: You see stuff like that on the TV, but to see it live and, you know, being a person of color, you know, you have those stories from your grandmother about how it used to be and how wrong it was. So, it was hurtful.

RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Clayton Wildcat Thomas is a musician on the river cruise of the Harriot II, he witnessed a fight that took place between a group of white boaters and a black employee that escalated into a massive fight on the riverside dock in Montgomery, Alabama on Saturday.

The incident occurred after the river boat's co-captain, Damien Pickett, tried to clear the dock space where a riverside cruiser normally docks. Montgomery police chief, Darryl Albert, announcing Tuesday that three white men had been charged with third degree assault for their involvement in the incident.

CHIEF DARRYL ALBERT, MONTGOMERY POLICE DEPARTMENT: We are also asking for Mr. Reggie Gray, the black male, 42 years old, who was seen wielding that folding chair to contact the Montgomery Police Department for further interviews. YOUNG (voiceover): The chief also identified the other victim today, a 60 -year-old white male whose mother signed an arrest warrant on one of the individuals who attacked her son. The river cruiser idled for about 40 minutes while the captain was prevented from docking, and first attempted to contact the pontoon owners by the cruise's P.A. system.

ALBERT: The co-captain was then picked up by a separate vessel and brought to the pier in an attempt to have a conversation with the private boat owners and/or have those boats moved so that the Harriot could dock. A confrontation ensued between the co-captain and Mr. Pickett, the co-captain, being attacked by several members of the private boat.

THOMAS: Everybody is yelling, hey, you know, and the captain, everybody is screaming because we can't help him, because he's getting stomped and kicked and cussed.

YOUNG (voiceover): While it appeared to be largely split across racial lines, the police chief said, at this time, there's not a lot enough evidence to meet their criteria to charge for a hate crime or inciting a riot.

ALBERT: Knowing Montgomery's history and knowing all the civil rights things that we went through here in the City of Montgomery or what that means to the nation, you know, we were very amped up to get this right. We'll continue to do all that we need to, to ensure that we get it right.

YOUNG (voiceover): Montgomery's mayor, Steven Reed, says the investigation isn't over yet.

STEVEN REED, MAYOR OF MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA: You can't allow your emotions or your initial thoughts to get out in front of what the facts tell you. And so, while this is an ongoing investigation, so far, the facts are, you know, kind of, you know, separated themselves from what was fixing.

YOUNG: You could see the Harriot II right behind me. Since this incident happened, there have been signs that have now been added to this dock space to make sure no one parks in that space again. The real question is about the three men who police want to charge with these crimes, how soon they will all be in custody? That's something that's community is looking forward to, try to figure out exactly what happened.

Ryan Young, CNN, Montgomery, Alabama.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: The U.S. Supreme Court has revived federal restrictions on so-called ghost guns which are assembled from kits anyone can buy online. Chief Justice John Roberts and a fellow conservative, Amy Coney Barrett, joined with the court's three liberals in the five to four vote. The ruling allows federal regulations to remain in effect while legal challenges play out. Two Texas residents as well as retailers and a gun rights group are challenging the regulations. Critics argue ghost guns are dangerous because they have no serial numbers, require no background checks and are difficult to trace.

Well, still to come, a 103-year-old woman wants to join her families in the U.S, but is stuck at the southern border until she can do so legally. Hear what she told CNN about her quests for asylum.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:35:00]

CHURCH: A Texas congressman is calling on the U.S. Justice Department to be more aggressive in its response to the state's controversial border initiative. Democrat Joaquin Castro toured the banks of the Rio Grande along the U.S. border Tuesday. It's a common stop for migrants trying to cross into the United States. Here's what he told CNN about what he saw.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JOAQUIN CASTRO (D-TX): It's barbaric. You see that they're basically treating these asylum seekers, these human beings like animals. You see the razor wire here and you see right over there those barrel traps that have concertina wire on them. You see clothing of people, including kids, that are -- it's stuck to the wire, literally stuck to the razor wire.

They're forcing border patrol to stay away from some of these areas when its border patrol that actually has responsibility for all of this process.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[02:40:00]

CHURCH: Governor Greg Abbott's border plan has separated at least 26 families at the border since early July, according to immigration attorney.

A 103-year-old woman is trying to join her family here in the United States by seeking asylum. Andrea Andrade told CNN on Espanol, she came from El Salvador to follow her son and two grandchildren who were already granted asylum.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDREA AVELINA ANDRADE, SALVADORAN MIGRANT (through translator): The truth is, at my age, I can't really work that much. My goal is to be with my migrant children.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Right now, she is waiting in Mexico for her son to formally request her entrance to the U.S. per immigration laws. She has no idea how long the process will take, but says that she trusts God to see her through it.

I want to thank you for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church. For our international viewers, "World Sport" is coming up next. And for our viewers here in the United States and in Canada, I'll be back with more "CNN Newsroom" in just a moment. Do stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:45:00]

CHURCH: High winds from Hurricane Dora in the Pacific are fueling wildfires in Maui. And evacuation orders have been issued for several areas of the Hawaiian island. Officials say flames have destroyed multiple structures and burned about 1,000 acres, which is more than 400 hectares.

Well, parts of Eastern Massachusetts saw some serious flooding on Tuesday. This was the scene in the town of North Andover, north of Boston. And you can see water pouring out of a building. There are reports of police responding to cars stuck in the high waters. A parking lot was submerged in the same area with about 20 cars flooded up to their hoods. The person who shared these videos say that the water is slowly receding.

And CNN Senior Meteorologist Chad Myers brings us the forecast across the U.S. for Wednesday and beyond.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Another hot day across the deep south and southwest. But really, North America almost cut in two, where all over the heat is bottled up down to the south and very nice to below normal weather is up to the north.

Now, some of that below normal weather will go away over the next couple of days, but still, the heat is going to be across the deep south. Something else that develops later in the week is we're going to see above average temperatures in the Pacific Northwest. That's going to be the story later on in the week.

But still, hundreds of records are going to be broken across the south. Look at Dallas, 107, 108 for the next three days, where your normal should be still be hot, 97, but not heat indexes like this, where in Dallas, you're going to feel like 109 later on today. Baton Rouge, you're going to feel like 112, where it has been so sweltering all summer long.

Now, there is the potential for some severe weather just on the north side of that heat. Right there, Paducah, Memphis, all the way over toward Nashville, as the storms are going to fire in the morning hours to the west, continuing from the overnight hours that we saw showers yesterday, and then slide off to the east through the deep south and also in towards the mid-south. This is the area that's going to see the significant weather around 5:00 or 6:00 for Duke and Memphis and the like, and then moving on again from west to east for the rest of the evening.

Some spots will have four inches of rainfall in these areas. There could be hail too, large hails with this. But there's the rainfall there, the four-inch swath. And so, we do know that there's going to be a significant threat there of some flash flooding in places that pick up that four to possibly even six inches of rainfall in the heaviest of thunderstorms. We'll have to keep watching that.

CHURCH: Well, thanks for that. And you may want to check the status of your flight if you're traveling out of an East Coast airport in the United States, that's because the airlines are still trying to bounce back from two straight days of storm delays and cancellations. CNN's Aviation Correspondent Pete Muntean has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Airlines still in recovery mode now, and we are not out at the woods just yet. Countless passengers had to (INAUDIBLE) in their travel plans when those storms moved through some major airports up and down the East Coast. In fact, so many people like who go bumped on their flights today.

The FAA says that we still could see some ground stops as the day goes on. So, the number of cancellations yesterday puts it in the top five since Memorial Day, 1,700 flight cancellations in the U.S., about a third of all flights canceled, 8,800 in the U.S., putting passengers on average an hour and 10 minutes late getting into their destination.

The worst airports, Atlanta, New York, LaGuardia, here at Reagan National Airport followed by Newark, a huge up for United Airlines, and then, Charlotte, a huge up for American Airlines. But it's really Delta Airlines that took it on the chin, it delayed a third of all its flights in the U.S., more than 1,300. Now, it is apologizing to passenger saying it's working to its schedule back on track. Although, we will see, as the day goes on and these ground stops that the FAA is warning about, it says that there could be some in New England, also in Florida, in Orlando, in Miami, Lauderdale, Palm Beach. Also, Atlanta could end up on the list once again.

Pete Muntean, CNN, Reagan National Airport.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: It's official, July was the hottest month ever recorded on earth, and it wasn't even close. European scientists confirmed the data in the Copernicus Climate Change Report, which came out Tuesday, it found July' average global temperature was around 1.5 degrees Celsius higher than pre-industrial levels. Even before the month was over, it was clear to them that it would be a record breaker.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[02:50:00]

CARLO BUONTEMPO, DIRECTOR, COPERNICUS CLIMATE CHANGE SERVICE: First week of July, I've seen two extreme temperature events. And at the time, the Copernicus Climate Change Services refers to -- referred back to these as being the warmest temperatures ever recorded. Now, three weeks into the month, slightly more than that, we can say that not only the first week of July was the warmest on record but the three weeks of July were the warmest on record.

And normally, with respect to previous record temperature for July, it's so large that we can confidently say that it's almost certain, it's extremely virtually certain that the end of July we will have seen the warmest July on record.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Charting global air temperatures, you can see here, starting in the 1940s on the left. The major upswing in July temperatures all the way to 2023. E.U. scientists say, we've met a crucial warming threshold that could serve as a global tipping point, ushering in more extreme weather now and into the future.

U.S. President Joe Biden was in Arizona on Tuesday to designate a new national monument. The land surrounding the Grand Canyon are now protected. The president says this will help right the wrongs of the past and conserve the area for future generations. CNN's White House Correspondent Arlette Saenz reports.

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ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Biden named the fifth national monument of his presidency here in Arizona, marking the latest step to make his conservation stamp on this country.

Now, this new monument is in part known as the Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon. It encompasses nearly 1 million acres surrounding the Grand Canyon and much of this land is sacred to the tribal communities who live in this region. Part of what this national monument will do is it will protect this land from any potential uranium mining. That is something that tribal leaders and environmental groups had pushed for for quite some time. And the president officially making this a national monument, as he signed that designation here on Tuesday.

Now, the president also used this trip as a chance to highlight his climate agenda, warning against what he described as MAGA extremists in Congress who are trying to undo some of his initiatives. But the president made the case for the role that the U.S. can play when it comes to the issue of climate change.

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: Well, there's a lot of good that's going to come from the sacrifices we're dealing with taken on the climate crisis. Folks, these are investments in our planet, our people and America itself. Protecting our outdoor treasures, making our nation more resilient. But some MAGA extremists in Congress are trying to undo it all. I didn't get help from the guys on the other team. Every single solitary person voted against this historic clean energy investment. And now, many of them are trying again to repeal these parts of the bill, but we won't let them. There is too much at stake.

SAENZ: The president's visit here to Arizona comes as part of a three-state swing, as he's also traveling onto New Mexico and Utah this week. And the president's mission, while he is out here in the western part of the United States, is to promote the economic and climate initiatives that were in the Inflation Reduction Act, which passed one year ago this August. But it comes at a time when many Americans, according to polls, do not know what the Inflation Reduction Act entails.

And so, part of what the president's challenge is heading into his reelection campaign is trying to convince American voters of the economic and the climate impacts that this piece of legislation has had.

Arlette Saenz, CNN, traveling with the president near the Grand Canyon.

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CHURCH: American's credit card debt levels have just reached a new but undesirable milestone, surpassing $1 trillion for the first time in history. A data released Tuesday by the New York Fed shows credit card balances jumped up in the second quarter by $45 billion or more than 4.5 percent.

Rising credit card debt and auto loan balances combined drove up overall household debt. The New York Fed says, overall, household debt has spiked by nearly $3 trillion since the end of 2019, just before the pandemic. And these increases are coming at a time when interest rates have quickly soared to a 22-year high.

Beachgoers in New York have reported numerous shark sightings this week. Three possible sharks were spotted in Long Island Tuesday, and another was confirmed in Queens. The sightings came a day at their a 65-year-old woman was pinned on the leg by a shark at New York's Rockaway Beach. Officials say it's the first shark attack at that location in 70 years. The woman was taken to the hospital and is now in stable condition. Several beaches were closed to swimmers due to these incidents.

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The mayor of Tampa, Florida says she reeled in a whopper of a cash while fishing last month. It wasn't a shark but it was a 70-pound or 32-kilogram bundle of cocaine, with an estimated street value of just over $1 million. Mayor Jane Castor was fishing in the Florida Keys with family at the time and turned the drugs over to the U.S. border patrol.

Well, thanks so much for your company. I'm Rosemary Church. I will be back with more "CNN Newsroom" after a very short break. Do stick around.

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