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Trump Says He's Made VP Pick, Hasn't Told Anyone Yet; Nearly 500 Hajj Pilgrims Confirmed Dead Amid Heat Wave; Putin Threatens To Arm North Korea; Three Dead, At Least 10 Wounded In Arkansas Store Shooting; Judge Denies Alec Baldwin's Motion To Dismiss Charges; Prince William Shakes It Off At Taylor Swift Concert. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired June 22, 2024 - 19:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:01:04]

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN HOST: Welcome everyone. You're in the CNN Newsroom. I'm Omar Jimenez in Washington. We begin this hour with breaking news. Former President Donald Trump says he's finally decided who will be joining him as his V.P. on the Republican ticket this November. I want to get straight to Steve Contorno who's live at a campaign rally in Philadelphia. All right, he says he knows but what more details do we have here?

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: Omar, we have been hearing in recent days that former President Trump has narrowed his list of front runners down to Senator J.D. Vance, Senator Marco Rubio and North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum. Well, today on the way to this Philadelphia rally, he stopped for cheesesteaks and he said he has made a decision. Listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: In my mind, yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do they know?

TRUMP: No. Nobody knows.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CONTORNO: Trump went on to say that he will make announce -- Trump went on to say he will make an announcement, quote, pretty soon. And we have been eyeing the Republican National Convention for that announcement. Now President Trump is obviously taking the stage here in Philadelphia. He is out on the campaign trail today.

Instead of studying for this debate, he's not holding any mock debate sessions. He's not briefing books or studying with advisors like President Biden is. He has chosen to be out on the campaign trail. He's coming to Philadelphia after speaking to Christian conservatives earlier today in Washington, D.C., where he said that he previously floated, creating a UFC league for migrants. Listen to what he said he told Dana White, the president of the UFC. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I said Dana, I have an idea. Why don't you set up a migrant league of fighters and have your regular league fighters. And then you have the champion of your league. These are the greatest fighters in the world fight the champion of the migrants. I think that migrant guy might win. That's how tough they are. He didn't like that idea too much, but actually not the worst idea I've ever had.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CONTORNO: Now Trump is about to dress the crowd here as you can hear. His rallying them today in Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, very important part of this swing state. He has been to Pennsylvania four times already this year, clearly a key battleground for him. Omar?

JIMENEZ: And Steve Contorno reporting in a very loud rally. I've done that before. It is a skill. Steve, you pulled it off masterfully. Thanks for being there, man.

All right. I'm now joined by CNN political analyst Seung Min Kim and Laura Barron-Lopez. All right, so we just heard from Steve there. Five days out from debate night, Laura. Trump has said he's decided, even if they don't know it yet. How critical is this pick to potentially gain support that you might not have at this point?

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I don't think ultimately that we are going to see that much shift from voters based on who he picks as vice president. Previously, it did help him. When he picks Mike Pence, it was meant to rally Evangelicals around him which he didn't have as much support amongst that group when he was running in 2016. Mike Pence helped him do that.

But amongst these three, it's difficult to see where exactly he thinks he'd be adding to those considering, it's difficult to see where he'd be adding more voters. A lot of these candidates have made very clear that they are loyal to him, that they align themselves with him across the board, be it on policy, but also on election denialism.

JIMENEZ: Yes, yes, there's no separate boxes that he doesn't already take himself. Seung Min, I want to bring you in because as for right now, Trump is skipping any traditional debate prep. Obviously, he's out on the campaign trail and Philadelphia hosting rallies. But do you think Trump is using today's appearances in a way to sort of test out some possible debate material and how it might play? And in front of an audience even though of course, during the debate, there will be no one in studio just through the camera?

[19:05:20]

SEUNG MIN KIM, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Right. I think the last several weeks leading up to the CNN debate next week has been sort of a testing ground for both men to see what lines work to prepare their attack lines. We know, President Trump likes to sort of throw things out into the crowd to see what gauges a reaction or what works. And we also know what President Biden has done in the last several weeks to kind of sharpen his attack lines, you know. We've, you know, he's had a lot of fundraisers. I was with him.

The fundraiser with former President Bill Clinton and former First Lady Hillary Clinton. In Virginia this past week, where his lines of attack against Donald Trump were getting sharper and sharper. And we know that's in preparation for that debate next week. And so you -- what you're -- what we've been seeing from, you know, frankly, both men over the last, you know, couple of weeks, is this all part of the preparations for how they're going to perform this coming Thursday.

JIMENEZ: And obviously, we know, Biden is preparing right now a Camp David. Laura, I want to bring you back in on this because it seems to be very different in tone than I guess what we're seeing from the former president. I mean, campaign rally versus debate prep a little different in the nature there. But is this indicative of how seriously, Biden's team is taking this? Was this always going to happen? Is this just who Biden is? Just what are your impressions?

BARRON-LOPEZ: I think that President Biden was always going to do some form of debate prep. He's -- he traditionally does that in the past. This debate prep has been led by Ron Klain, his former White House Chief of Staff. And they did say though, the campaign has said that it's -- he's not going to have as much time for debate prep, as he may be did in 2020, leading into those debates with Donald Trump, because of the fact that he's President this time around, has a lot of other duties because of that.

But they do view this as a moment where they're going to have the largest audience to show that contrast. A contrast that Seung Min was saying that Biden is trying to sharpen his attacks on and show that he is a very different candidate than Donald Trump all across policy, be it abortion, be it threats to democracy, be it even the economy and be it on immigration. And I think that you're going to see President Biden really try to focus on all of those big differences come the debate, and they view it as an incredibly important moment for him.

JIMENEZ: Yes. I mean, no doubt this will be the chance for voters to actually see him unscripted in a moment against his opponent and see how sharp he is in person. Because Seung Min I want to bring you in on that point, because, I mean, look, it's no secret that the Trump campaign has attacked over and over Biden stamina and mental fitness, you name it. But then this week, we heard Trump take a different tune saying he's not underestimating Biden on the debate stage that he's a worthy debater. Take a listen to some of what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I watched him with Paul Ryan, and he destroyed Paul Ryan, Paul Ryan with the water. He was chugging water at a left and right. I didn't think a human being would be able to drink so much water at one time. And he beat Paul Ryan. So I'm not underestimating him. I'm not underestimating him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: I mean, look, obviously we're reading tea leaves in the game before the game here. But were you surprised to hear that sort of shift in tone so close to this debate?

KIM: I was sort of surprised that President Trump -- former President Trump did it himself. It is a traditional classic debate strategy to kind of raise those expectations for your opponent. But it was surprising because Donald Trump and Republicans have spent, you know, so long, virtually the entire campaign painting President Biden as a sort of someone who has lost, you know, someone who has kind of lost his cognitive abilities. And just days before the debate, it's President Trump and his allies say, well, no, he's actually a really good debater.

Look at him back in 2012. We expect him to come out strong. I don't know if it's, you know, it might be too late to change the narrative of what the public's expectations are for President Biden, especially with what, you know, Donald Trump and the Republican Party have done, all they have done over the many months to just kind of, you know, portray Biden and attack him over his age.

So but it was an interesting tactic. I think they were -- I think someone in that circle maybe realized that they had lowered expectations for President Biden, a little too much.

JIMENEZ: And you're right, that could end up being a major factor over the course of this. Laura, before we go, I want to ask a little bit about the fundraising numbers that we've seen because obviously Trump campaign announced a huge number raised over the course of May. President Biden same, huge number, maybe difference in cash on hand versus you see the numbers there on your screen. How much of a difference does that actually make, though, in the perceptions of where the country is? Because I feel like people are locked into where they want to be right now.

[19:10:24]

BARRON-LOPEZ: I think you have to be careful about how much you read into those numbers and how much grassroots support that that actually reflects. We do know that, you know, the Trump campaign has said that they have been getting more small dollar donations lately after the conviction. That being said, again, you can't read too much into those numbers, ultimately. And, yes, Trump is seems to have surpassed Biden this time around in fundraising, but he is spending a lot of that money on legal fees.

So even though the number, his number looks bigger than Biden's and Democrats, he may ultimately not have as much money as Biden and Democrats do to spend in those battleground states where it counts trying to reach the voters to get them to mobilize and turnout to vote.

JIMENEZ: Yes. Resources, nonetheless, I think both campaigns it's fair to say have resources at their disposal. Laura Barron-Lopez, appreciate it. Seung Min Kim, thanks for being here.

A lot more news that we're following, so much has changed since Biden and Trump first faced off in 2020. Their final debate in Nashville, Tennessee was almost four years ago. CNN Jeff Zeleny brings us this look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The historic rematch between Joe Biden and Donald Trump is anything but a rerun. A vastly different set of issues are driving this race as the President and former president come face to face for the first debate of the 2024 campaign. Four years since they shared a stage --

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You're the worst president in America has ever had. Come on.

TRUMP: In 47 months, I've done more than you've done in 47 years, Joe.

ZELENY (voice-over): It feels like an upside down lifetime ago back when the Coronavirus pandemic was raging.

TRUMP: You have to understand if you look, I mean, I have a mask right here. I put the mask on, you know, when I think I need it.

BIDEN: This is his economy has been, he shut down.

ZELENY (voice-over): In the Biden-Trump's sequel, an entirely new fight has been brewing on the campaign trail.

TRUMP: It could end up in World War III with this person. He's the worst president ever.

ZELENY (voice-over): And in T.V. ads.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This election is between a convicted criminal who's only out for himself, and a president who's fighting for your family.

ZELENY (voice-over): That offers a window into the new issues and fresh lines of attack, a reminder of just how much the country the world and, yes, they have changed. From an insurrection and all its fallout to a new fight on abortion rights in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe versus Wade, to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and a war in the Middle East to the very stark question of America's role in the world.

Yet the economy, inflation and immigration are still at the center of it all. Trump's record was at the heart of their last debates, even as he sought to deflect.

TRUMP: If he gets in, you will have a depression the likes of which you've never seen. Your 401(k)s will go to hell and it'll be a very, very sad day for this country.

ZELENY (voice-over): While those warnings didn't come to pass, Biden's record is now under the microscope complicating his effort to make it a referendum on Trump.

BIDEN: The fact is that everything he's saying so far is simply a lie. I'm not here to call out his lies. Everybody knows he's a liar. ZELENY (voice-over): And America's oldest presidential candidates are even older, Trump 78, Biden 81. With age and fitness for office now a central issue in the race. Public opinion for presidents can be punishing. Biden's favorability has fallen 11 points since 2020, with nearly six in 10 Americans holding an unfavorable view. Perceptions of Trump have changed less, with more than half still seeing him in an unfavorable light. Televised debates have long been a storied part of his presidential campaigns over the history making moments for candidates.

RONALD REAGAN, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Here you go again.

ZELENY (voice-over): Yet, this showdown is without parallel. The nation's 45th and 46th presidents still seeking to define one another in the earliest general election debate in memory, an old duel being fought on new ground.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JIMENEZ: That was Jeff Zeleny reporting. Don't forget the CNN presidential debate is this Thursday, June 27th at 9:00 p.m. Eastern, watch right here on CNN or streaming on Max. I cannot wait.

Still ahead, more than 1,000 Muslims are feared dead from heat exhaustion while making their Hajj pilgrimage in scorching temperatures. We'll bring you those details.

Plus, Russian President Vladimir Putin making a very friendly visit to North Korea. What happened on the visit and what Putin says he'll do if the West continues helping Ukraine?

[19:14:54]

And the Prince of Wales and his royal kids shake it off at the Taylor Swift concert in London. I will show you how much he was shaking up a lot as you just saw. You're in the CNN Newsroom.

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JIMENEZ: All right, we've been following this news. Nearly 500 people have died amid extreme heat at this year's Hajj pilgrimage, one of the largest religious gatherings in the world. Now temperatures soared there to 120 degrees as an estimated 1.8 million Muslim worshippers journey to the holy city. CNN international correspondent, Scott McLean, has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[19:20:13]

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A ritual journey of faith that many Muslims will only make once in a lifetime. But this year under a blazing hot Saudi sun, roughly 1,000 people are feared dead during the Hajj pilgrimage. Countries are still trying to account for the dead, and why so many people lost their lives. The heat is an indisputable factor. Temperatures reached 51 degrees Celsius on some days or about 125 degrees Fahrenheit.

One pilgrim, Zirrar Ali, who just returned from the Hajj says he saw several people passed out from the heat during the journey.

ZIRRAR ALI, ATTENDED HAJJ: And then when you're surrounded by tens and thousands of people, even physically being close to somebody by a few meters, you feel the heat from the crowd, you know, five minutes in the sun is enough to completely, completely make you confused and dazed and to not find shade. It's a very painful experience.

MCLEAN (voice-over): Ali also says he saw medical teams on the scene though he says there weren't enough of them. That claim some did not respond to critical situations.

ALI: And so the ambulance and the medics were not stepping into any of the places. I did see them once go into a place and try to help somebody. And so to me, it felt like there are too many people. There's not enough medics. And so they're just waiting for the worst of the worst to happen.

MCLEAN (voice-over): Other witnesses say water stations were sometimes overrun with thirsty people. And the systems in place to cool people down like misting stations and cooling areas weren't enough. There were also reports of a high number of unregistered visitors this year, who often don't have access to proper food, water or shelter. CNN has reached out to Saudi authorities regarding their reportedly inadequate response to this year's heat but have yet to hear back.

Saida Wurie says going to the Hajj was a lifelong dream for her parents who paid more than $20,000 to what they thought was a legitimate agency to organize the trip. But it was a disaster from the start.

SAIDA WURIE, PARENTS DIED AT HAJJ: They talked about not having the proper transportations. They talked about days where the company did not provide food for them. They decided that they were going to make the journey and try to do the walk. And that's what they did. So the entire experience was a nightmare.

MCLEAN (voice-over): But that would be one of the last communications from her parents. Saida says she was told they were missing. And later the U.S. Consulate confirmed they had died, most likely from heatstroke. She says she's now focused on returning their bodies which have already been buried in Saudi Arabia. Loss filled with so many questions and grief shared by people around the world whose loved ones won't be returning from the Hajj.

Scott McLean, CNN, Istanbul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JIMENEZ: Thank you for that reporting Scott.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin is threatening to arm countries including North Korea if Western countries keep sending arms to Ukraine. Now the U.S. is calling Putin his remarks, quote, incredibly concerning and says this move could destabilize the entire Korean peninsula. Jill Dougherty joins me now. She's CNN's former bureau chief and Moscow and an adjunct professor at Georgetown University. All right, Jill, you're an expert in Russian diplomacy. What is your reaction to Putin's new comments here?

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: You know, as soon as I heard that, Omar, I thought of, you know, what Putin does. This is his strategy. It's been that way for several years. And essentially it boils down to you made me do it. And what he is saying is, you the West are arming Ukraine, therefore, I have the right to arm anybody I want to arm. And I agree, this is incredibly, you know, dangerous. I really do believe that Putin is an increasing threat the way he is now consorting with North Korea, which is rogue state attacks on Ukraine continue, unmitigated, arresting Americans and holding them as hostages and all of these nuclear threats. So this is very, very concerning.

JIMENEZ: Putin also stopped in Vietnam, along with North Korea, Vietnam, rapidly growing economy. I mean, it what do you make of that visit? I mean, it really Putin has made a point to be very visible in the trips that he's making. This isn't just come in, shake a few hands. It very visible state visits here.

DOUGHERTY: Yes, definitely. Well, I mean, he has to show that he is friends. And Vietnam is still a communist country, but it's different. It's completely different from North Korea of course. It is, you know, economically much better. But it does show Putin can go to certain places but as we remember, there is an international arrest warrant out for him with the ICC, the International Criminal Court for war crimes that he allegedly has carried out in Ukraine. So there are a lot of places that he can't go. And here's one of them.

[19:25:25]

JIMENEZ: And I'm curious to just from your perspective, should we be reading into the timing of this, I think my mind just goes to, you know, we just saw President Biden, make trips to France to commemorate D Day, then the G7, you have American presence at the Ukrainian Peace Summit. And then all of a sudden, you have Russia in the same timeframe sending nuclear powered submarines off the coast of Florida towards Cuba. And then you have this visit. Should we be reading into that timing at all or do you just see this as just generally Putin trying to make his mark known to the world?

DOUGHERTY: You know, that could be Omar. There are a lot of things that are happening right now, both in the region around Ukraine, and then also in the East, in Asia. And so it could be that Putin is just trying to send a message. But I do note, if you go back like a week and a half ago, when those ships were going into the harbor, in Cuba, I think what Putin is trying to do also is kind of tweak the West, especially the United States, and remind them of the Cold War, you know, Cuban missile crisis, North Korea, China, et cetera.

I think these are ways that he's trying to intimidate the West, remind them of what can happen. And then you probably know that madman theory, which is, you know, I am going to blow up the world, therefore don't do anything to me. And that is also some of the game that he's playing here. He is not crazy. One would hope that he doesn't want to blow up the world. But these threats and the asymmetrical as they're called, threats, playing with North Korea, playing with Cuba, we can go into the Western Hemisphere, if we want. That type of thing is sending a message but also it increases the level of unpredictability and danger.

JIMENEZ: Yes. Jill Dougherty, always appreciate your perspective. Lot of dynamics to keep an eye on. I appreciate you being here.

All right, still ahead for us, we're following news of a gunman opening fire at an Arkansas grocery store. Three people are dead and at least 10 are wounded. We'll tell you what we're learning about the victims and what may have prompted the shooting. Stay with us. You're in the CNN Newsroom.

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[19:32:08]

JIMENEZ: Just in, we are learning the name of one of the people killed in yesterday's mass shooting at an Arkansas grocery store. Three people are dead and at least ten others injured. This is 63-year-old Shirley Kay Taylor, who is identified as one of the victims by her daughter. She told CNN her mother was a great person who loved her family and was one of the hardest working women she knew.

Now, shots rang out at the grocery store around 11:30 AM local time sending shoppers running for cover. A suspect is in police custody, charged with three counts of capital murder. He is set to appear in court, Monday. So far police have not said if there is a motive.

Meanwhile, actor, Alec Baldwin's legal team will try to get the involuntary manslaughter charges against him dismissed again on Monday after a judge in New Mexico denied a similar motion on Friday.

Now, the charges stem from the shooting death of cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins on the movie set of the film, "Rust" back in 2021 when a gun Baldwin was holding went off.

CNN's Josh Campbell explains more of what is to come.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: In a new court filing in the US state of New Mexico, prosecutors laid out various items of evidence they plan to use in the upcoming trial of actor, Alec Baldwin and it is clear in looking at this evidence that their strategy isn't just focusing on the actual moment that a gun Baldwin was holding went off, killing the film's cinematographer, but on the actor, Alec Baldwin's alleged behavior in the days and weeks leading up to that shooting.

Some of the evidence that they cite includes video evidence showing Baldwin allegedly using a gun as a pointer. They say he was engaged in horseplay, pointing the muzzle of a gun at another actor. They say at one point, while setting up for a scene, he fired a blank round at a crew member. And during a safety briefing on firearm safety, he allegedly was distracted FaceTiming and texting with family members.

Now all of this tracks with what Santa Fe's district attorney first told CNN when charges were first brought against actor, Alec Baldwin. Take a listen here to the DA describing what she claimed was a culture of unsafe practices on that movie set.

MARY CARMACK-ALTWIES, FIRST JUDICIAL DISTRICT ATTORNEY: There was such a lack of safety and safety standards on that set that there were live rounds on set, they were mixed in with regular dummy rounds. Nobody was checking those.

CAMPBELL: Is Baldwin being charged as an actor who is holding the gun or as a producer on the set who was negligent about the safety standards? Can you help describe that?

CARMACK-ALTWIES: He is being charged with both. He was the actor that pulled the trigger. So certainly, he is charged as an actor. But also as a producer, he also had a duty to make sure that the set was safe.

CAMPBELL: And here is the New Mexico case law prosecutors are using to justify their prosecution. They say that criminal negligence exists where the defendant acts with willful disregard of the rights or safety of others, and in a manner which endangers any person or property.

Now an attorney for Alec Baldwin declined to comment on this new filing. Baldwin has pleaded not guilty to charges of involuntary manslaughter. He claims that he never pulled the trigger on the weapon.

[19:35:09]

Interestingly, his team has submitted a new filing asking for this case to be dismissed. They claim that prosecutors have selectively released pieces of evidence, well, we will have to wait and see what a judge decides on that motion.

As of right now, Baldwin's trial is set to begin in July.

Josh Campbell, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JIMENEZ: All right, Josh, appreciate it.

We've still got a lot more news ahead, including Miss Americana and the British Prince, William, the Prince of Wales and his kids see the Princess Taylor Swift in London. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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[19:40:23]

JIMENEZ: I think it is fair to say Prince William had a fun time shaking it off at a Taylor Swift concert.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

JIMENEZ: That is some serious shaking.

The Prince of Wales celebrated his 42nd birthday with two of his children, Princess Charlotte and Prince George at Taylor's Eras Tour in London.

Now, Swift met the Royals backstage as you can see here and snapped a selfie along with her boyfriend, NFL player, Travis Kelce.

CNN Royal historian, Kate Williams joins us now.

All right, Kate, look, Prince William, having fun. It is his birthday. It is not often he lets his hair down, I guess. That's not a joke on the amount of hair that he does have on his head, but when you look at what he was actually enjoying here, I mean, what is your reaction just from a public standpoint to what you're seeing?

KATE WILLIAMS, CNN ROYAL HISTORIAN: Well, Taylor Swift has taken London by storm. Everyone is so thrilled to see her, even the band outside Buckingham Palace playing for the possible future prime minister, we have an election coming up, Keir Starmer, he was there.

There were various celebrities there and Prince William was there as well with two children, with Charlotte and Georgia. Louis, I think is too young to go, and I mean, you know, what a treat for them to go and see Taylor Swift with their dad.

And I think there were lots of Taylor Swift dads out there taking their kids, but William was clearly there because he loves Taylor Swift as well. He was dancing, he was singing. He was doing all of these moves.

William is famous for some of his dad dancing. I mean, it was really great, you know, William and Kate have had such a tough year this year with William seeing his father go through a cancer diagnosis, wife going through a cancer diagnosis. Really having to step up and fill that position.

So I think the chance really to have some carefree fun was great, and seeing a Royal enjoying Taylor Swift, it really does show that Taylor Swift, she has got everyone there. You know, she is a phenomenon.

JIMENEZ: Yes. No, no kidding. And I want to ask you about a little bit of what you were talking about there. Obviously, look, from the context here, the King, Princess Catherine, had been dealing with a lot. The family has been dealing with a lot, and I wonder just from a morale standpoint how good it might feel or see for folks in the public to see someone from the same family actually enjoying some of the better parts of life.

And I am curious how you think these images will play on that front?

WILLIAMS: Well, Omar, I think people are going to be very pleased to see, and I think particularly because we know it has been tough for the children. William and Kate, certainly didn't make announcement about Kate's

cancer diagnosis until the children finished school, and said that they could be understood as a family. So they are out there enjoying time with their dad.

We know that children who have a parent who is going through illness, it is really difficult and I think these will play out well. I think it will be something that is seen as William being -- doing what lots of other people are either doing or want to do because it is very hard to get tickets for Taylor Swift. She is the queen and I think that the fact that William is there, he is enjoying himself, I think this stands him in good stead to be the future, future king.

We always have embarrassing incidents of a Royal who is trying to the cool or presidents or prime ministers trying to look cool, but certainly I think, it was made clear that William and his children are genuine fans of Taylor Swift and that they were really, really thrilled to meet her.

And certainly, I think they felt very fortunate to meet her because she is taking Europe by storm and we are all Swifties now. I think, London -- Britain is overtaken by Swiftmania.

JIMENEZ: And look, one of the things that strikes me here to is there are times over history where maybe the Royals were seen as potentially a little stuffy, to use the word, very, very tightly monitored as far as communications and the images that are put out.

And I think we saw how a little bit of it with Princess Catherine and sort of the candidness with which she talked about the medical treatments that she has been going through, but also here, having Taylor Swift and even Travis Kelce come and meet them and having these photos out there and putting those photos and having that as part of the experience of this as well.

Is trying to bring some of that candidness and more casual nature of things you think the beginning of a trend of what we will see from the Royals moving forward?

WILLIAMS: I think the Royals have to change. They have to be more candid. They have to be more open.

I mean, we live in a society where it is more open than a different way that when the Queen came to the throne in 1952.

[19:45:10]

So, you know, Kate's discussion on the eve of Trooping the Colour, Kate's statement about her cancer diagnosis, I mean, it was unprecedented in how she said that, I am not out of the woods yet.

Usually, we are told that Royals are totally okay even when they're not. And she said, not out of the woods yet. I have good days and bad days. She talked very movingly about the fatigue that she suffers, what she can and can't do and that I think is very significant and William, we see some more casual, informal photos. The Royals need to change with the times, otherwise, they won't

survive and we do live in a time of candid openness, not too much openness because then that can open the flood gates. But certainly I think that the fact is that they didn't just go to the concert privately, but they posted the pictures and I think they felt very lucky to be there.

JIMENEZ: Yes, a hundred percent.

Kate Williams, thank you for being here. Really appreciate it.

Everyone else, we will be right back.

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[19:50:49]

JIMENEZ: All right, a judge has dismissed 30 cases of criminal trespass this week against pro-Palestinian protesters who were arrested inside a Columbia University building back in April.

Meanwhile, a Columbia Task Force created in November months before the protests even began -- some of the protests that you're seeing there -- has revealed disturbing instances of antisemitism against Jewish students and faculty.

I recently took a deeper dive into that task force and some of what they found.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ESTHER FUCHS, PROFESSOR, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: Many things are broken at Columbia, deeply broken.

JIMENEZ (voice-over): Professor Esther Fuchs is among the co-chairs of Columbia University's Task Force on antisemitism. The task force was formed in November 2023 to "foster a community, as Columbia University President Minouche Shafik put it, where debates and disagreements are rooted in academic rigor and civil discourse."

JIMENEZ (on camera): Where are you right now in the process?

FUCHS: Questions of harassment, intimidation, hate -- just pain, isolation, discrimination -- every word you could think of came out from students' experiences, Jewish students' experiences at Columbia, making it very clear to us that a lot of systems in place are not working for Jewish students.

What we found in the listening sessions were essentially students who felt like the burden was on them to resolve it.

JIMENEZ (voice over): Professor Fuchs says they found that one professor came across what may have been a Jewish-sounding name before an exam and asked that student to explain their views on the Israeli government's actions in Gaza.

Also, that another professor told their class to avoid reading mainstream media, declaring, "It is owned by the Jews."

FUCHS: To ask a student to defend the policies of a government in Israel because they're Jewish is -- I don't even have words to say how ridiculous that is, but also how intimidating that is.

JIMENEZ (voice over): For weeks, Columbia University was at the focal point of nationwide protests on college campuses over the Israel-Hamas war. Some of those nationwide protests got violent.

In and around Columbia's campus, there were similar dynamics, especially just outside campus, but at the very least, there was palpable tension. Some Jewish students felt unsafe to the point they chose to leave campus in the lead up to graduation.

JIMENEZ (on camera): We also heard from Jewish students who did not feel that way, who said they did feel safe on campus, and we also heard from Muslim and Arab students who also felt unsafe. I know this is an antisemitism task force, but --

FUCHS: No, no, no. It's a perfectly appropriate question.

JIMENEZ: -- but how do you deal with that dynamic?

FUCHS: So, you know, we are hoping that our recommendations will be relevant and be used to deal with all students who are feeling unsafe or discriminated against.

We were asked to be the antisemitism task force to do the work around that. The president tried to constitute an Islamophobia task force and could not find faculty to be on it. We would have preferred to have an Islamophobia task force right next to us doing the work with us because this is a broader issue.

JIMENEZ (voice over): A university official told CNN they didn't get enough professor buy-in, that for the administration, there was a will but no willingness from those who were calling for it.

FUCHS: The university has to do better, you know, if we're about educating, which is our primary mission, education and research are our primary missions, we have to do better.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JIMENEZ: Now, we did hear back from one senior Muslim faculty member who said he didn't know about any efforts to form and islamophobia task force, but of course we didn't reach out to everyone.

As for the antisemitism task force, they are set to put out a second report in the coming weeks that is all about campus climate and what the university can do to fix these problems. That's where they plan to be reporting in-depth on the listening sessions. We've got some details here, which I should note that the co-chair told me the super majority of faculty did not behave like some the egregious details we just heard, but she said that it happened in the first place, should be concerning.

We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:59:56]

JIMENEZ: All right, a live picture at Capitol Hill in Washington where the nation's capital hit a hundred degrees for the first time in eight years and that is why I have stayed inside today, specifically right here for the last five hours.

While also this weekend, CNN delves to the shadowy world of 1980s cold war espionage. Check out the finale of our original series, "Secrets and Spies: A Nuclear Game." It's tomorrow night at 10, only on CNN.

Thanks for joining me this evening. I'm Omar Jimenez. I will see you again tomorrow night starting 5:00 Eastern.

An encore presentation of HBO's "Real-Time with Bill Maher" starts now.

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