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CNN International: Biden and Trump to Debate Amid Changes in Political Climate; Iran Gears Up for Friday's Presidential Vote; U.N. Spokesperson: Risks to Aid Workers in Gaza Intolerable; Seoul Activists Create Smart Balloons to Reach North Korea. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired June 26, 2024 - 04:30   ET

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

[04:30:00]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: How are you doing, Wolf?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The pressure on each man to perform Thursday is evident, but it's the profound changes in America's political climate from 2020 which could be a deciding factor in the Trump-Biden debate.

JOHN DAWSEY, POLITICAL INVESTIGATIONS REPORTER, THE WASHINGTON POST: 2020, Biden successfully and effectively made the election a referendum on Trump's leadership.

This time, he's trying to make it a referendum on Trump again. Do you really want this guy back in office? And Trump has tried to make it a referendum on Biden's record.

TODD (voice-over): Two seismic events since the 2020 debates, the January 6th insurrection, which Donald Trump is accused of inciting, and which he denies.

And Trump is now a convicted felon, found guilty of falsifying business records in his hush money trial, something President Biden might be under pressure to highlight more at the debate.

AMY WALTER, PUBLISHER AND EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, COOK POLITICAL REPORT: Thus far the issue of his felony conviction doesn't seem to have moved voters in one direction or the other.

TODD (voice-over): In 2020, analysts say American voters were looking for a leader who could manage them out of crises, including one, the likes of which they'd never seen before.

WALTER: We were in the middle of COVID, and that was the centerpiece of the conversation in 2020.

TODD (voice-over): Also, in 2020, the Black Lives Matter protests were raging across the country, following the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer. Unemployment in America surged at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, a dynamic that has completely turned around as we head into this debate.

But analysts say President Biden could be hounded by another economic factor that's different from 2020.

WALTER: The issue that is really plaguing him and is frustrating voters overall is the cost of stuff. Inflation has been a factor.

TODD (voice-over): Another enormous political and social sea change from 2020 stems from an event that occurred in late June of 2022.

DAWSEY: Roe v. Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court, by judges that former President Trump largely picked, and it was a key promise of his. And that's proven to be an unpopular decision, according to polling on both sides, and has hurt Republicans in a lot of different elections.

TODD (voice-over): And an evolutionary change from 2020, the steady drumbeat of voters' concerns over the candidates' ages.

Joe Biden, at 81, is the oldest president in American history. If Trump wins, he'll be the oldest president ever at a swearing in at age 78. Both men facing escalating criticisms for memory lapses, mistaken identity references, and other worrisome signs.

DAWSEY: Both sides are trying to exploit that, and both sides also know, particularly on the Biden side, I feel like they understand that it's a key vulnerability that they're having to deal with.

TODD: The analysts we spoke to point out another significant difference between this debate and the ones in 2020. This Thursday's debate is the earliest one in the calendar year in the history of televised presidential debates, which will likely prompt the voting public to pay attention to the candidates, the issues and their differences for a longer period of time.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

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MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: The CNN U.S. presidential debate tomorrow night, you can watch it 9 p.m. Eastern in the U.S., 9 a.m. Friday in Hong Kong, 2 a.m. here in London.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is calling for high participation in the upcoming presidential election there. Iranians will head to the polls on Friday to vote in a snap election to replace President Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash last month.

For more, let's go to CNN's Fred Pleitgen live in Tehran. What's the turnout looking to be there, Fred? How engaged are people?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it certainly seems to be a race that is a lot closer than races that we've had, for instance, in the in the election in the past and the one where Ebrahim Raisi got elected, Max. And there are, of course, still six candidates who are in the running.

I'm actually right here in the area close to the Grand Bazaar here in Tehran, because one of the biggest issues here in Iran right now is the economy. Unemployment has been a problem. The economy has been a problem. The sanctions, of course, have been levied by the U.S. or led by the U.S. have been a big problem for the economy as well. So that's something that a lot of candidates have been talking about, about how to deal with that, how to deal with inflation as well.

But you can see here in the area around the Grand Bazaar, where a lot of people come every day, that the election still looms very large up there. You have a poster of Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who's one of the main conservative candidates. We do see a lot of posters for Ghalibaf around this part of the city.

And if you look over there, you have another conservative on that poster over there. That is Saeed Jalili, who is, of course, the former chief nuclear negotiator of Iran and also someone who is, quite frankly, of course, looking to win this election.

It is one that does still have a lot of excitement, if you will, in it. There are still six candidates that are in the running. But now that we are two days ahead of that election, there are certain things that can happen here in Iran.

What have happened in the past is that, for instance, some candidates might drop out of the race in favor of other candidates to try and strengthen, for instance, the conservative or the moderate position.

What you have, for instance, tonight is you have a rally by the main moderate candidate, Masoud Pezeshkian. But you also have a big rally by the gentleman that you see behind me, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, which is leading some to say that maybe he will turn out to be the main candidate on the conservative side. Very difficult to see.

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What we do see, though, and what we have seen, especially yesterday, where there were big religious celebrations here in the city, is that a lot of people are saying that they will go out and vote this time. Of course, in the last election where Ebrahim Raisi was elected, the turnout was fairly low. So the Iranians are looking to change that.

And again, you are absolutely right as well, Max, that the supreme leader has come out very forcefully in an important nationally televised speech and urged people to head to the votes, saying that every time the turnout is strong, that it strengthens the political system here in the Islamic Republic.

Every time the turnout is low, he believes that it aids the enemies of the Islamic Republic -- Max.

FOSTER: Fred Pleitgen in Tehran, thank you. Officials in Gaza say Israeli strikes have killed at least 24 people,

including family members of a key Hamas leader. A Palestinian civil defense said one airstrike targeted a school where displaced families were sheltering. Officials say at least eight people were killed, including five children.

And in a refugee camp west of Gaza City, officials say an airstrike killed at least 11 people, including the sister and other family members of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh. In response, Haniyeh said Israel is delusional if it thinks targeting his family will change, quote, our positions and resistance.

Meanwhile, the Israel Defense Forces say they eliminated a terrorist on Tuesday who was a key operative in the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization. But Doctors Without Borders says 33-year-old Fadi Al- Wadiya was a physiotherapist and their colleague. They condemn the killing.

CNN's Nada Bashir here with the details. How do we get to the bottom of this one then?

NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, we've heard from Doctors Without Borders, an international medical NGO. Of course, they say that Fadi Al-Wadiya had worked with the organization in Gaza since 2018. So he is a long-time member of the organization. Again, as you mentioned, a physiotherapist.

The Israeli military has said that they targeted what they've described as a terrorist. They believe he was a member of the Islamic Jihad organization in Gaza. They say that he was a central figure in the organization.

FOSTER: So they're not disagreeing about who was targeted?

BASHIR: No.

FOSTER: It's just what he did?

BASHIR: Exactly. And they say that he was a central figure in the knowledge of electronics and chemistry within the Islamic Jihad movement. So they have actually responded directly to Doctors Without Borders with regards to this.

They have acknowledged they did indeed kill Fadi Al-Wadiya. They say that this was targeted, that he was a terror target.

But again, this has been refuted by Doctors Without Borders. They issued a statement yesterday saying that they are outraged and strongly condemn the killing of their colleague. They say that the attack killed Fadi, along with five other people, including three children, while he was cycling to work near the MSF clinic in Gaza. Again, as you mentioned, 33-year-old physiotherapist, father of three.

We've heard also from the operations manager from Doctors Without Borders describing this as cynical and abhorrent. But of course, what we have seen over the last eight months is this

sort of repeated targeting of medical workers, of humanitarian workers. And oftentimes we've heard from the Israeli military describing this as a mistake, that there are investigations taking place.

But again, this has really raised the stakes for humanitarian organizations. We've heard just yesterday from a spokesperson from the United Nations reiterating these warnings and concerns. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHANE DUJARRIC, U.N. SPOKESPERSON: Humanitarian operations have repeatedly been in the crosshairs in Gaza. And I think you know the number of humanitarian workers that have been killed. We've repeatedly talked about humanitarian convoys. We've talked about areas that were deconflicted, that were hit, hospitals, shelters and so on. And the risks, frankly, are becoming increasingly intolerable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASHIR: Now for Doctors Without Borders, they have said that this is now the sixth killing of an MSF staff member in Gaza since October 7th. And what we have seen, of course, is the continued targeting of areas in Gaza that should be safe. So hospitals, clinics, humanitarian zones, tents, tent cities and also, of course, schools.

And we've certainly seen that just in the last 24 hours, another school targeted by the Israeli military in Gaza. So this is really raising concerns for humanitarian organizations, because without these security guarantees, it is making it increasingly challenging for them to operate safely on the ground. And of course, as we know, there is so much need in Gaza.

The situation is growing only more desperate. But of course, for humanitarian workers, for medical workers, particularly from international organizations coming in to provide that support, there aren't these security guarantees that they desperately need to operate on the ground.

FOSTER: OK, Nada, thank you.

Ahead, new developments in the Korean balloon battle. A South Korean activist group has a new high-tech way to spread its message.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: Just into CNN, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has been formally announced as the next Secretary General of NATO. His appointment to the post was a formality after the president of Romania, Rutte's only rival for the job, bowed out last week. Rutte will replace Jens Stoltenberg, who took office in 2014, not long after Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine.

Now Rutte will head the alliance as Russia's war in Ukraine continues to rage on NATO's doorstep.

Now, the balloon feud over the Korean Peninsula is back. South Korea's military says North Korea has sent another 250 waste balloons its way after deploying around 350 earlier this week.

Pyongyang insists it's retaliation for South Korean activists sending their own balloons into the North, carrying leaflets critical of Kim Jong-un's regime.

Meanwhile, a group of activists in South Korea developing a smart balloon capable of automated drops. CNN'S Mike Valerio is covering this live for us from Seoul, interesting to see technological developments in this battle.

MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And certainly, chroma developments as well. We have this beautiful rainbow parachute that helps one component, Max, of these new smart balloons that you're about to see.

So this is not a rainbow-colored camping lantern. This is actually a loudspeaker. It would be attached to one of these new South Korean smart balloons tethered right here. And then it eventually falls to the ground in North Korea, again, with this beautiful rainbow parachute, and begins to play an anti-Kim Jong-un anthem from the yellow part of the speaker right here.

So, Max, this is just one component of these new balloons and one part of this group's effort to win what it calls the new Korean information war.

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VALERIO (voice-over): In a small Seoul apartment spitting out of what looks like a pint-sized printer or an unstoppable ATM, this is the payload of a new South Korean smart balloon, flyers filling the floor, but soon scattering across the skies of North Korea.

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MR. CHOI, CO-FOUNDER, COMMITTEE FOR REFORMING AND OPENING NORTH KOREA (through translator): I believe North Korea can change when the deification of Kim Jong-un is cracked, and sending these smart balloons is the way to achieve that.

VALERIO (voice-over): CNN is identifying this man simply as Mr. Choi. He's a North Korean defector and the co-founder of the group called the Committee for Reforming and Opening North Korea. Choi asked for his identity to be concealed because of the ever-elevating drama surrounding balloons crossing between North and South Korea.

For years, activists in the South have sent balloons North, filled with K-pop music, money and leaflets describing life outside North Korea. North Korea calls those deliveries trash, and for about a month now, it's sent more than 1,000 trash balloons South.

This is Choi's compact command center, wind direction and GPS routes of his balloons all at his fingertips. CHOI (through translator): Our smart balloons are preset to start distributing the leaflets at a specific point after calculating wind speed and direction. This way, the leaflets will be distributed within the planned area. We can cover 300 to 400 kilometers this way.

VALERIO (voice-over): He works his day job, comes here, 3D prints parts and assembles them for five to six hours a day.

CHOI (through translator): With our system, we can control the leaflets to fall every 300 meters or every kilometer, making sure more people can see them.

VALERIO (voice-over): As for his motivation, Choi is a North Korean defector, with family still trapped there. He majored in engineering at a North Korean university and watched YouTube videos to get a better idea of how to build next generation balloons. As for his critics calling for the balloon tit for tat to stop, Choi says these are striking a nerve.

CHOI (through translator): To those who criticize our activities, it's like saying, let's help maintain a dictatorship in South Korea.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VALERIO (on camera): OK, so Max, for anybody who lives outside of the Korean Peninsula, this may seem like a very, you know, super weird, bizarre story, but this is certainly serious stuff. You know, Max, when we look at the flyers that are sent out by these smart balloons, they're not just casual leaflets. The text right here, it's calling on people essentially to rise up.

It says, you know, in so many words, paraphrasing right here, hey, people of North Korea, are you tired of starving? Are you tired of dying at the hands of Kim Jong-un's regime? This is coming from the free world, and it's time for you to rise up.

So you know, Max, Incheon International Airport, a couple kilometers away from where we're standing, had more delays and disruptions because of these trash balloons sent from North Korea. We all, on our cell phones around 11 p.m. last night, received word that more of these balloons were coming from the North. So watch this space. This storyline is not ending anytime soon.

FOSTER: Yes, fascinating. Mike Valerio in Seoul, thank you so much for bringing us that.

Now, Britain's King Charles is paying tribute to the emperor and the empress of Japan. He and Queen Camilla hosted a lavish banquet at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday, part of a three-day state visit by the Japanese royals.

The trip had been planned for 2020 but was postponed due to the Covid pandemic. The British monarch praised the country's shared economic, diplomatic and cultural ties.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) KING CHARLES, UNITED KINGDOM: I know that our two countries are collaborating ever more closely to provide for our shared security. Our armed forces are exercising and sharing expertise at great levels, as befits two powers with an enduring commitment to global peace and security.

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FOSTER: Britain's Prince William attending the dinner as well, but King Charles' younger sister, Princess Anne, suffered a head injury over the weekend or, yes, over the weekend and was absent from it.

Still to come, how late Jeopardy host Alex Trebek is being honored as the quiz show celebrates six decades on the air.

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FOSTER: Going for Olympic gold means burning a lot of calories and the organizers of the upcoming Paris Games think they've crafted the perfect menu with more than 500 dishes to meet the dietary needs of the world's greatest athletes. With just 30 days to go until the opening ceremony, CNN's Saskya Vandoome reports on the 200 volunteers who tested out the dining facilities in the athletes' village.

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SASKYA VANDOOME, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER: This former power plant inside the Olympic village is now an eco-conscious restaurant for the athletes. This is just one of the many kitchens that will be fueling future gold medalists. This food hall will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

And get this, they'll be serving 45,000 meals a day.

VANDOOME (voice-over): Cooking on this scale presents several challenges.

NATHALIE BELLON-SZABO, CEO, SODEXO LIVE: We have to feed 15,000 athletes for 200 nationalities. And we have to feed a judoka, or we have to feed also a gymnast, which is not the same, you know, they don't eat the same food.

VANDOORNE (voice-over): Nutrition is key and chefs have come up with over 500 different dishes with a third of what's on offer being vegetable-based.

In this kitchen, there's plant-based meat, but also lamb moussaka and some French culinary classics, but no wine to wash it down with.

VANDOORNE: And are there fries?

VANDOORNE (voice-over): That's right, there's no deep fryer allowed inside the kitchen because of safety reasons. VANDOORNE: Helene, when you think of athletes and you think of healthy eating, you don't necessarily think about cheesecake, tiramisu, chocolate muffins. Should the athletes be eating this?

HELENE DEFRANCE, NUTRITIONIST AND OLYMPIC BRONZE MEDALIST: Yes, if they're here, it's for a reason, because sometimes you have, like, a hard day. You spend a lot of energy and you want to add this to your meal, so you can cover your energy needs.

VANDOORNE (voice-over): There will be several cuisines on offer, Asian, Afro-Caribbean, French, Middle Eastern and Halal cuisine. Kosher food will also be available on demand.

VANDOORNE: So is the food any good? Let's go and ask Paris 2024 President Tony Estanguet what he thinks about it. What do you think, is it any good?

[04:55:00]

TONY ESTANGUET, PARIS 2024 ORGANIZING COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: Yes, it's delicious.

VANDOORNE: Paris organizers have promised the Queen of Games yet, that's why you won't find any plastic in here. You've got your cutlery, and you've got your porcelain bowls made in France.

VANDOORNE (voice-over): They've done away with plastic bottles in favor of reusable cups and these soda fountains.

VANDOORNE: Now, when the athletes are done eating, they'll come here. Now, there's a special bin for your compost, right there. There's the recycling. And of course, this is going to head straight into the dishwasher.

VANDOORNE (voice-over): 30,000 plates, 20,000 bowls and 35 people at a time just to load these massive dishwashers. When it comes to cutting waste, Paris 2024 is going for gold.

Saskya Vandoorne, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: And we won't be eating for a while.

Golfers played through the night in Iceland's Arctic Open over the weekend, teeing off under the midnight sun. The golfers played one of Europe's northernmost golf courses.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES MONKS, AMERICAN GOLFER: We're really excited to play midnight golf, and we stumbled upon the Arctic Open. And, you know, here we are at 2:00 a.m., we're still playing, it's amazing out.

JAMES WILSON, BRITISH GOLFER: I believe it's the most northerly course in Europe. The sun doesn't go down at all, so you can play all through the night. And I've enjoyed, I mean I've never played on a golf course in the middle of summer where there are snow-capped mountains as the scenery, so yes, it's been amazing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Iceland's home to the most golf courses per capita in the world. Pretty small population, though.

The U.S. Postal Service honoring Lake Jeopardy host Alex Trebek with his own stamp. A book of 20 stamps will resemble the Jeopardy game board, but each stamp shares the same clue. This naturalized U.S. citizen hosted the quiz show Jeopardy for 37 seasons. The answer included upside down in case you didn't know Alex Trebek.

The stamps will go on sale July 22nd in honor of his birthday.

Thanks for joining me here on CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Max Foster in London, CNN "THIS MORNING" up after the break.

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