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Biden Campaign Running Damage Control After Debate; Man Uses Crossbow in Attack at Israel Embassy in Serbia; Biden Meets With Family as Calls Grow for Him to Quit Race; Presidential Runoff Vote in Iran Set For Friday; High Court Rules Homeless Can Be Fined For Sleeping Outside. Aired 5-6 am ET

Aired June 30, 2024 - 05:00   ET

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

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[05:00:37]

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada, and all around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN Newsroom.

More calls today for President Joe Biden to step away from the 2024 race, how he's reassuring top donors that he's up for the task.

The first major hurricane of the 2024 season is churning in the Atlantic, where Hurricane Beryl is expected to go next.

And thousands protest in Israel as a former hostage speaks out about her ordeal, details. Plus, how the United States is getting involved in the latest ceasefire efforts.

ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta, this is CNN Newsroom with Kim Brunhuber.

BRUNHUBER: After spending time at Camp David to prepare for the debate, Joe Biden is now at the presidential retreat to spend time with his family following his poor performance. But there's no getting away from the calls for him to end his campaign, and those calls just got a bit louder. Sources tell CNN that the family gathering isn't aimed at making a decision on that.

The White House says this was a long-planned family event expected to include a photo shoot. Still, we're told the topic of just how badly the debate went is expected to come up, and these are the people who, more than anyone, hold significant influence over such decisions.

Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris spent part of Saturday trying to reassure donors that he is still the best candidate for the Democratic Party. At a fundraiser Saturday, Biden told those gathered that he'll fight harder despite new calls for him to exit the presidential race.

The largest newspaper here in the battleground state of Georgia is the latest to call for Biden to drop out. Have a look. "The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's" editorial board wrote, "If he displays the courage and dignity that have defined his political career, he might follow in the footsteps of the nation's first president and welcome his retirement secure in the knowledge that he again served his country with honor."

CNN's Arlette Saenz has more on the President's latest efforts to put the debate behind him.

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ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Biden sought to reassure anxious donors after his debate performance, telling a group at a New Jersey fundraiser that he's ready to fight harder in this campaign. The President spent Saturday with the First Lady, attending three fundraisers in the Hamptons and New Jersey. At each of those events, he acknowledged his poor debate performance, but tried to assure donors that his candidacy remains on track.

It comes as Biden's advisers have fielded phone calls from anxious Democrats and donors concerned about the state of the race and what it could mean to keep Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket after that debate performance.

Sources tell CNN that Democrats are conducting polling and research over the weekend and early into next week to try to gauge the exact impact that debate will have on this re-election bid. They said they're not just looking at Biden's re-election bid, but also how House and Senate Democrats who are in competitive races could be affected as well.

Now, the Biden campaign so far has doubled down on the fact that President Biden is remaining in the 2024 race. They say that he intends to debate Donald Trump in September. And a memo from the Biden Campaign's Chair, Jen O'Malley Dillon, said that they believe that this will be a very close race, but do believe that their team will put in the work to help Joe Biden beat Donald Trump in November.

Now, President Biden is going to spend Saturday at Camp David with the First Lady and other members of their family, all at a time when many questions are swirling about what could come next for Biden in this campaign.

Arlette Saenz, CNN, traveling with the President in New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: And joining us now from Lancaster, England, is Richard Johnson. He's a lecturer in U.S. politics at Queen Mary University of London.

Thanks so much for being here with us. So we just heard some measured views there, but it's impossible to ignore the growing sense of panic among Democrats. Strategists are racing around conducting new polls. The President's meeting with his family this weekend. Do we -- do you expect him to make any big announcement that perhaps he will step aside? RICHARD JOHNSON, LECTURER IN U.S. POLITICS, QUEEN MARY UNIVERSITY OF LONDON. I mean, the timetable I've been hearing is he's got a week to prove himself. And I mean, the important date to keep in mind is the convention beginning on the 19th of August. And, you know, at the moment, Joe Biden is not the Democratic nominee. That will be a choice made by the convention. The convention consists of about 4000 delegates. Now, Joe Biden has 99% of those delegates have pledged to Joe Biden.

[05:05:08]

The rules of the Democratic Party say that those delegates should vote in good conscience for the candidate that they are pledged to vote for. But they don't actually have to vote for Biden. That was a rule that was changed in the 1980s after Ted Kennedy's challenge of Jimmy Carter. It's called the robot rule by critics who said you just have to robotically vote for who you were pledged to vote for.

So there is some room for Biden's own delegates to vote against him. But I think it's unlikely that they would vote against him. And so the question really then is a much more closer question, much more proximate question, which is, would Joe Biden himself pull back and in effect open up the process for a replacement?

BRUNHUBER: Exactly right. And -- and if he were to, I mean, you know, looking at -- at some of the editorials that were in one of the -- one of the many blows was that "New York Times" editorial. And in it, they wrote, "There are Democratic leaders better equipped to present clear, compelling and energetic alternatives to a second Trump presidency."

But is that true? I mean, one of the problems is the lack of a clear successor. Normally it would be the Vice President. But as has been pointed out many times, her numbers are actually worse than the President's.

JOHNSON: That, I think, is exactly the problem, and that has been the problem all along. You know, I think Joe Biden -- there was a chance that Joe Biden might have been voluntarily a one term president. He ran for president in 2020, saying that he'd be a bridge to the future.

When he selected Kamala Harris four years ago as his Vice-Presidential nominee, many people thought that, in effect, he was going to prepare her to be his successor. But from the start of his presidency, doubts emerged about her ability to connect with the electorate, perceptions of her competence and so on. Some fair, some not so fair.

And I think Joe Biden, in effect, decided at some point during his presidency that Kamala Harris would not be a strong candidate against Donald Trump. And that's -- that determination really, I think, meant that he had to run for re-election because Biden couldn't say, I'm not going to run for re-election, but I also don't have confidence in my vice president to succeed me as the nominee. And that is, I think, still his problem right now, because I think that probably the biggest barrier to him pulling back is his lack of confidence in Kamala Harris. BRUNHUBER: But then if, you know, there's a groundswell for somebody else, let's say, if they were to, you know, I guess leapfrog her metaphorically there, would there be a danger of alienating certain groups of voters and the party essentially tearing itself apart?

JOHNSON: Exactly. So then -- so then the problem becomes, OK, well, in theory, Biden could say, actually, I want us to have a fully open convention. I release my delegates. I want them to listen to the speeches. Perhaps we'll have some CNN debates in the next few weeks between potential candidates and my delegates can listen to those debates.

The problem with that is that Kamala Harris will have a strong following within the party, maybe not enough to win the nomination. And her supporters will feel -- will feel to a certain extent rightly aggrieved that the person who selected her to be the next in line for the presidency right now doesn't feel comfortable saying that I think she should be the next president in January of next year.

And then the risk for the Democrats becomes depressed turnout in November. And this is an all-hands-on deck election. The Democrats need everyone, all of their supporters to turn out. They don't have the luxury of key constituencies staying home or having lethargic turnout in November. And that, I think, is the risk of a messy nomination contest.

BRUNHUBER: Listen, I listed all of the left leaning media that are calling for President Biden to stand down after that debate. But we haven't seen the same mobilization by the right wing, you know, basically calling for Donald Trump to stand down after -- after he was convicted. I mean, the double standard seems particularly acute here.

JOHNSON: There certainly is a double standard. And you can look at -- we can maybe go back to, say, 2016, actually, when the Access Hollywood tape came out and Trump spoke in appalling ways about treating women.

There were calls at that time for Trump to stand down. I think if you look back at the media commentary around that time, people effectively thought Trump would be -- would be toast in the election. Trump's inner circle told him to just -- to plow on, to ignore it. The fundamentals of the election were what mattered more.

[05:10:13]

And in that sense, they were vindicated. I think the Republicans took a certain lesson from that. And I wonder if the Biden inner circle will take a similar lesson.

Obviously, it's a very different set of circumstances. But the Biden campaign might -- might basically say, look, what really matters is the fundamentals of the election, the economy, the fact that you have been the president. People know you can be president because you are the president at the moment.

And I think there is a chance that Biden does pull through. I'm not saying it's the right decision for November. But I think that there will be strong voices who might even look at the Trump example and say, you can weather this storm and still win.

BRUNHUBER: It'll be a fascinating window of decision as you spoke of there as we see what happens. Richard Johnson, thank you so much for your analysis. Really appreciate it.

JOHNSON: Thank you.

BRUNHUBER: Now, despite my last question there, Joe Biden isn't the only one being asked to drop out of the presidential race. "The Philadelphia Inquirer's" editorial board says Donald Trump is the candidate who should end his campaign.

The Board says the debate was a reminder of what another four years of Trump would look like, quote, "more lies and hate." The Board does acknowledge that President Biden had a bad night, but says Biden at his worst is still, quote, "light years better than Trump is best."

Voters across France are heading to the polls for high stakes snap parliamentary elections. There will be two rounds of voting, first today, and a second round will be held on July 7th. President Emmanuel Macron's party is facing challenges from both the country's far right and a left-wing coalition. Macron called the vote after his centrist alliance was defeated by the far right in European Parliament elections earlier this month.

Several Caribbean nations, including Barbados and Grenada, are bracing for impact as Beryl, the first hurricane of this year's Atlantic season, is expected to move across the Windward Islands late Sunday night, is now located north of French Guiana and is getting stronger.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center forecasts Beryl could bring life- threatening winds and storm surge as a major hurricane. Record warm ocean temperatures are to blame for the unseasonably early tropical system, and experts warn Beryl is just the first of what could be more than a dozen hurricanes to come during this hyperactive Atlantic season.

Warmer waters aren't the only breeding ground for more tropical systems and hurricanes. It can also lead to deadlier storms through a process called rapid intensification. CNN Meteorologist Chad Myers explains why the phenomenon is so dangerous.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We knew it was going to be rough, but I wasn't expecting all this.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All of a sudden, the house flooded. It just started going deeper and deeper, and by the time we were walking out, we were mid-thigh.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST (voice-over): Those who have lived through a hurricane that has undergone rapid intensification are often shocked by its speed and strength. Rapid intensification is when a storm's maximum-sustained wind speed increases by 35 miles per hour in 24 hours or less. And it could be a significant part of the 2024 hurricane season, with both record warm ocean temperatures and a developing La Nina.

ROBBIE BERG, METEOROLOGIST, NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER: It means essentially that one day you could look at a storm, it could be a tropical storm, maybe a Category 1 hurricane. When you wake up the next morning, and it's up to Category 4 or 5.

MICHAEL BRENNAN, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER: The strongest hurricanes that have ever hit the United States, the high-end category 4 or a category 5 were all been tropical storms or less three days before landfall.

MYERS: One example of dramatic rapid intensification, Hurricane Ian, in 2022, which took more than 100 lives across Florida and the southeast.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've been here since 1965 and this is the worst hurricane that I've ever been through.

BERG: I was working a midnight shift. When I got on shift, it was a category 1 or two hurricane. By the end of the shift, we had the aircraft in there and it had exploded up to category 4.

MYERS (on camera): There's going to be some huge waves with this.

I was working in the morning shift that day and clearly saw the storm intensify overnight. I also warned of a slightly shifting track to the right of the center of that cone. The time to evacuate was quickly closing. And I knew this was going to be bad.

BERG: We tell people don't just check the forecast on one day and wait a whole another 24 hours to check it again. You really do have to stay up to date when you live in a hurricane-prone area.

MYERS (voice-over): And 2024 has the potential to be a devastating hurricane season. NOAA has issued an above-normal Atlantic hurricane forecast, with up to 25 named storms, eight to 13 potential hurricanes and four to seven of those becoming major hurricanes.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: The U.S. tries to revive the ceasefire proposal for Gaza after it hit a stumbling block. Still ahead, a new diplomatic move by Washington to try to get Israel and Hamas on the same page.

[05:15:10]

Plus, an attack outside Israel's embassy in Serbia by a man using a crossbow. How a police officer stopped the attacker despite taking an arrow in his neck. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BRUNHUBER: For the first time since her rescue, a former Israeli hostage has publicly spoken out about her ordeal while she was held by Hamas. Noa Argamani addressed a rally in Tel Aviv through a prerecorded video message on Saturday. Among other things, she said Israel should do everything possible to bring back about 120 hostages who are still in captivity.

Now, on the diplomatic front, Washington has proposed a new language in the stalled ceasefire plan for Gaza, according to a senior U.S. official. While on the front lines, tensions on Israel's border with Lebanon are escalating, war -- wars with Iran.

Elliott Gotkine joins me now with more from London. So, first, Elliott, on the ceasefire talks, any reason for optimism around these new efforts?

ELLIOTT GOTKINE, JOURNALIST: I wish there were, Kim. But, look, we've had a month now since President Biden made that announcement of this new ceasefire proposal, which he said Israel had signed off on. You've had the Americans pressuring the Egyptian and Qatari mediators to put pressure on Hamas to accept the deal. And yet, despite all of that and the passage of that past month, there hasn't been any breakthrough.

[05:20:20]

Now, as we understand from a senior U.S. administration official, they are trying to tweak some of the wording to bridge the gaps between Israel and Hamas. But we heard from, just on Saturday, a Hamas spokesman in Beirut saying that the proposal that was outlined by President Biden still falls short of its key demands, which are a full cessation of hostilities and a full withdrawal of Israeli forces as the price for even starting this ceasefire.

Israel, for its part, even though it says it accepts the wording of the proposal that was outlined by President Biden, says that it still wants to have the right to complete a couple of its key war objectives, which are to destroy Hamas's military and governance capabilities.

And so you do effectively have two diametrically opposed kind of red lines from the Israelis and Hamas. And it's very hard to see how that that gap is going to be bridged. And, you know, we've had periods of optimism over the past few months that, you know, a deal was imminent, that a deal was going to be done.

But the fact is that almost nine months on, there are still 120 hostages being held in Gaza. Around a third of those are believed to be dead. And the prospects for this ceasefire plan don't seem necessarily any brighter, even after the U.S. is, you know, says that it's tweaking -- tweaking the wording to try to bridge those gaps, Kim.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, unfortunately. All right, and then, Elliott, there was a terror attack at the Israeli embassy in Serbia. So walk us through these quite extraordinary events. GOTKINE: So, yeah, this happened at about 11 o'clock in the morning local time. And according to CNN affiliate N1, what happened was a 25- year-old man whom Serbian authorities says was a convert to Islam and came from a town just south of Belgrade. He approached the Israeli embassy in the Serbian capital, took a crossbow out of a bag and then fired a bolt at the security officer who was guarding the embassy.

Now, despite having that bolt in his neck, the security officer managed to reach for his gun and to fire several shots at the attacker, killing him. The security around Israeli embassies around the world is always pretty tight, but it's been ramped up since the Hamas-led terrorist attacks of October the 7th. The same goes for Jewish institutions as well. And that security clearly was necessary there in Belgrade.

Israel's Foreign Minister posting on X his gratitude to the Serbian authorities and the Serbian government for its response and for protecting the Israeli embassy and wishing the security officer who's being treated in hospital a speedy recovery.

Kim.

BRUNHUBER: All right. Appreciate that. Elliott Gotkine, thanks so much.

Ukraine says a Russian missile attack on a town near Zaporizhzhia on Saturday killed at least seven people, including three children. More than 30 other people were wounded. Officials say the town was targeted in the middle of the day when people were out enjoying the weekend.

After the attack, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy repeated calls to allies for more weapons and air defenses. He says any delay means the loss of more human lives.

At least 18 people are dead and dozens more injured in northeast Nigeria after bombings at a wedding, hospital, and a funeral, according to Borno State's emergency services, expecting mothers and children are among the dead.

Borno State has been gripped by more than a decade of violence as extremist groups like Boko Haram have killed thousands of people and displaced millions more.

Clashes between German protesters and police broke out Saturday in the western city of Essen when a conference for the far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD, is currently underway. The group organizing the protests says its mission was to prevent the spread of fascism.

AfD scored its best E.U. election result ever earlier this month. The party's co-chair says it's seen a 60% increase in membership since January 2023.

Bolivia has arrested four more military officials in connection with a failed coup attempt. Government officials say the latest arrests include a former commander of Bolivia's air force. A report sent to CNN by a Bolivian officials claims the country's former army chief was behind the coup. They say he started planning it in May and has since been detained and charged.

One sergeant's accused of ramming a military vehicle into the government palace, and you can see it in this video from Wednesday. So far, Bolivia has arrested 21 people tied to the plot.

All right, after the break, as calls for Joe Biden to walk away from the presidential race grow louder, he's now at Camp David with his most important advisors, his family. What advice might they give him? We have more on that next.

[05:25:05]

And Iran's presidential election ended with no winners, so voters have to head back to the polls. We'll tell you who their options are after the break. Please stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN Newsroom.

Well, this could be a day of decision for U.S. President Joe Biden. Days after his disastrous debate, Biden is now at Camp David with family.

Now, those family members could help the President decide his next steps, whether he stays in the 2024 race or drops out.

Biden's trying to put his debate performance behind him, having spent part of Saturday telling donors he will fight harder. But there are calls for him to exit the presidential race. "The Atlanta Journal- Constitution" is the latest editorial board urging Biden to quit the race.

Meanwhile, a number of voters at a rally in Washington, D.C. on Saturday said they're disappointed in Biden's debate performance. But some of them say that's not their top concern in this year's election. They turned out for this event put together by the Poor People's Campaign.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN PETERSON, PASTOR AND UNDECIDED VOTER: He looked fatigued and he looked as if he wasn't capable of the job in terms of the debate that night. My hope is that he'll recover and we'll have a very vigorous debating season and campaign seasons where he will be able to articulate more clearly and with a level of vigor.

LAURA FITZGIBBON, PASTOR AND BIDEN VOTER: I think that at this point, both of our candidates are of a similar age. And I'm less worried about that and more worried about what they say they're going to do.

[05:30:02]

HENRY ROBINSON, UNDECIDED VOTER: You should not be 70 or 80 years old in the office. No, you're out of touch. Things evolve. People evolve. Times change. You need to change, too. But they don't want to. Because they're stuck in their old ways.

BILL THOMPSON, BIDEN VOTER: The reason why it doesn't concern me is because of his integrity. Where his heart is and where his integrity lies is with the American people. And it's not with Donald Trump. He's for himself, he's for the billionaire class, and all he wants is more wealth.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Iranians will head to the polls again in the coming days after Friday's presidential election failed to produce a winner. Moderate lawmaker Masoud Pezeshkian and ultra-conservative former Nuclear Negotiator Saeed Jalili will face each other in a runoff.

Fred Pleitgen tells us what's next.

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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Iran's presidential election is headed for a runoff after no candidate managed to get more than 50% of the vote. However, there was a pretty good showing by the moderate camp and their main candidate, Masoud Pezeshkian. Beforehand, the moderate camp had actually said that they believed they needed very high voter turnout in order for him to even have a chance to make it to the runoff stage.

While the voter turnout was actually very low, it was only about 40%. And yet Pezeshkian managed to get by far the most votes. He got around 10.4 million votes, almost a million more than the second-place candidate Saeed Jalili.

Now, Pezeshkian is someone who wants better relations, he says, with countries here in the region, but also better relations with the West as well. And the supreme leader of this country, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, he had warned voters not to trust candidates that want better relations with the U.S. too much. He never maimed Pezeshkian. However, there were some who believed that he meant Pezeshkian with that.

Saeed Jalili, for his part, came in second in the first round of voting. He's someone who says that he wants policies in line with what Ebrahim Raisi, the president who, of course, crashed a little over a month ago and was killed, would have done.

That means a tough line towards the United States and also a tough line towards Israel as well. The next round of voting set to take place this coming Friday.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Tehran.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: And I want to bring in Gregg Carlstrom, who's a Middle East Correspondent for "The Economist." And he's the author of the book, "How Long Will Israel Survive: The Threat from Within?" And he joins me now via Skype from Cairo.

Thanks so much for being here with us. So, the reformist candidate, Masoud Pezeshkian, can he win? I mean, even though he had a slight lead, there were actually more votes in total for conservative candidates.

GREGG CARLSTROM, MIDDLE EAST CORRESPONDENT, THE ECONOMIST: Well, he did have a better showing, I think, than many people predicted going into that first round on Friday. But I think the question now in the runoff is if he can mobilize more reformist voters. This is an electorate, the reformist bloc, that has been increasingly disenchanted with Iranian politics.

They stayed at home, obviously, during the last presidential election in 2021, when they had no candidate on the ballot. They stayed home during the most recent legislative election. And Pezeshkian was able to mobilize some of them on Friday.

But I think it's an open question whether he can convince more of them. I think what he's going to say to people going into Friday is sort of, you have a choice between me and this arch-conservative, ultra-conservative figure in Saeed Jalili. And he's going to use fear, I think, as a way to try and mobilize people to come out to the polls.

BRUNHUBER: You spoke of the low turnout there, the lowest basically since the founding. What message do you think were Iranians sending?

CARLSTROM: That everyone is disenchanted. It wasn't just the reformists. And I think one thing that was interesting, if you look at the numbers. Yes, as you said, the conservative candidates, they got about 13 million votes. Between them, they got -- they got more votes than Pezeshkian did. But compare that to 2021, compare that to the election that Ebrahim Raisi won. He got about 18 million votes three years ago. It was about 13.5 million now for the conservative candidates.

So 4.5 million to 5 million conservatives who voted in 2021 stayed home during this election. I think that tells you it's not just the reformists who are a bit fed up with the direction of Iranian politics and losing hope in Iranian politics. It's also increasingly people from the conservative camp, people from what should be the base of support for the regime.

BRUNHUBER: And I'm wondering, we heard there about how the reformist candidate Pezeshkian wants better relations with the West and with the U.S. I mean, how much difference, let's say he were to win, how much difference would that actually make, considering how much control the hardliners, especially the Ayatollah, have?

CARLSTROM: Right. The answer to any question about foreign policy, it always starts by pointing out that the supreme leader is the one who dictates foreign policy. In Iran, the president doesn't have control over that.

[05:35:07] But there have been cases where a popular sort of more reformist president has been able to nudge the supreme leader, influence the direction of foreign policy. We saw that with Hassan Rouhani when he was the president and came in with a very strong mandate to try to improve relations with the West and particularly with the U.S. And that led to the nuclear deal in 2015.

I think the problem for Pezeshkian if he were to win the election is that he's unlikely to be a sort of powerful, influential president by himself. He doesn't come in with a strong base of support from within the political establishment in Iran, although he's picked up the backing of people like Mohammad Javad Zarif, the former Iranian Foreign Minister. He has picked up their backing during the election, but he's not someone who prior to a month ago was a very influential figure in Iranian politics.

He would also be coming in probably with a fairly small mandate in terms of voter turnout and how many people voted for him. And so I think even if he comes in wanting to nudge relations with the U.S. in a better direction, he's going to have very limited space to do that within the Iranian system.

BRUNHUBER: And same, presumably, with relations with Israel. I mean, this comes at times with heightened tensions between Iran and Israel. There's an escalating war of threats flying back and forth, in addition to the actual, you know, shooting conflict between Israel and Iran's powerful proxy, Hezbollah, in Lebanon.

So, again, the fact -- if the reformist candidate were elected, would it possibly lead to perhaps better relations maybe with Israel, a change in the escalation that we've been seeing, or is the answer pretty much the same?

CARLSTROM: I think it's pretty much the same. It's very hard to imagine that even a popular reform-minded president would be able to change policy there. That really is set by not only the supreme leader, but the Revolutionary Guard and the military establishment, the security establishment in Iran.

This is a regime where hostility to Israel has been baked into its DNA since 1979, since it was founded. It's a fundamental pillar of the regime. And I think whoever is the president, that is likely to continue to be the case.

BRUNHUBER: All right. Well, it will be a fascinating election to follow. We'll see whether, indeed, there is change in that country. We really appreciate your expertise. Gregg Carlstrom, thank you so much for speaking with us.

All right. When we come back, a massive Supreme Court decision that could affect cities across the U.S. A housing rights activist joins us next to explain why ticketing the homeless could make the issue much worse. Please stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:40:53]

BRUNHUBER: Returning to one of our top stories, Beryl, the first hurricane of this year's Atlantic season has just intensified into a Category 2 storm. Several Caribbean islands, including Barbados and Grenada, are bracing for impact. It's expected to move across the Windward Islands late Sunday night.

Beryl is now located north of French Guiana. It also already set the record for the easternmost hurricane to form in the tropical Atlantic in June.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center forecasts Beryl could bring life- threatening winds and storm surge as a major hurricane. Experts warn Beryl is just the first of what could be more than a dozen hurricanes to come during this hyperactive Atlantic season.

We're learning more about how three sweeping U.S. Supreme Court decisions just days ago could affect the future of the United States. Now, one ruling guts the power of federal agencies to approve regulations that could have major effects on the environment, public health, and the workplace.

In another ruling, the high court said federal prosecutors improperly charged hundreds of January 6th defendants with obstruction. The decision could force prosecutors to reopen at least some of those cases.

And the conservative court voted in favor of an Oregon town that tickets its homeless residents for sleeping outside. The decision rejects the argument the law violates the Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

And joining us now from Washington, D.C., is Jesse Rabinowitz. He's the national -- he's with the National Homelessness Law Center.

Thank you so much for being here with us. Your organization was heavily involved in the Supreme Court case. You mobilized support from around the country, rallied advocates. But the Supreme Court sided with the city in this case.

So, I want to read you Justice Gorsuch, who wrote, "It makes no difference whether the charged defendant is currently a person experiencing homelessness, a backpacker on vacation, or a student who abandons his dorm room to camp out in protest on the lawn of a municipal building."

What do you make of that reasoning? Basically, it doesn't matter why you're sleeping outside. A city has the right to ban it.

JESSE RABINOWITZ, CAMPAIGN AND COMMUNICATION DIRECTOR, NATIONAL HOMELESSNESS LAW CENTER: Thanks so much for having me, Kim. It's great to be with you. I think we have to be clear that the city of Grants Pass, where this case originated, was very clear in how they enacted this law. And they were clear that they would only enact this against people experiencing homelessness. If you were a stargazer sleeping outside, or if you were a stargazer

using a blanket to look up at the sky, you were fine. But for homeless people who had nowhere else to go, they gave people $295 tickets. And when they couldn't pay those tickets, threw them in jail. That makes homelessness worse. It keeps people trapped in this cycle of poverty and doesn't do anything to solve homelessness.

BRUNHUBER: I want to ask you about the impact of this. According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, almost 600,000 Americans are experiencing homelessness. More than a quarter million of them don't live in shelters. So this presumably affects all of those. I mean, what concretely will this mean for them?

RABINOWITZ: That's a great question. We're in the middle of a historic housing crisis. And that housing crisis causes homelessness. Rents are too high. Half of Americans pay more than they can afford in rent. And nearly one in four worry about becoming homeless.

Instead of focusing on solutions to homelessness, like housing and services, the Supreme Court just made it easier to throw people in jail for sleeping outside. That will make homelessness worse.

We need to use this moment in time to call on our elected officials, from President Biden all the way down to local elected officials, to focus on the true solutions to homelessness, which is why we're calling on the president and Congress to invest $356 billion in the next year as a down payment towards solving homelessness and ensuring that everybody has a safe place to sleep.

BRUNHUBER: But, I mean, you know, throwing money at the problem may not necessarily be the solution. I'm thinking of California, where there are huge homeless encampments in residential areas. I mean, I used to live there. You know, they were everywhere. I mean, cities like Los Angeles say the previous laws handicapped them.

[05:45:05]

I want to read you what California Governor Gavin Newsom wrote, quote, "This decision removes the legal ambiguities that have tied the hands of local officials for years and limited their ability to deliver on common-sense measures to protect the safety and well-being of our communities."

I mean, Los Angeles, just as an example, is spending $1.3 billion this year on homelessness, and obviously it isn't working.

RABINOWITZ: It's going to take more than one year or even a few years to combat the gutting of a social safety net and the lack of affordable housing, but we have to stay the course. I'm glad you brought up Los Angeles. Their recent point in time count shows a 10% decrease in homelessness.

So that shows that even when they were under the ruling that said you couldn't throw people in jail, they were able to reduce homelessness significantly, which is praiseworthy. That shows that cities don't need to be able to throw people in jail to solve homelessness. They need to focus on the true solution to homelessness, which is housing and services.

Anything else is politicians deflecting blame for their failure to do what is needed to solve homelessness.

BRUNHUBER: In the meantime, presuming that cities will start, you know, enforcing this, maybe clearing out encampments, starting giving out tickets, I mean, what can you and other activists, your organization especially, which specializes in legal issues, how can you help them as they're trying to navigate these, the court systems and so on that might end up putting them in jail?

RABINOWITZ: There are a number of legal strategies that we are pursuing. We're working with members of Congress and state houses across the country to pass legislation that protects the very rights that the Supreme Court just gutted. We're asking people to join us and calling on the White House and Congress to invest $356 billion as a down payment to solving homelessness.

We have to be honest. The court was never going to solve homelessness. That's not their job. And while we're disappointed, we are not surprised at their decision. But this terrible, harmful ruling must force our elected officials to do their jobs and focus on the housing and supportive services that we know solves homelessness.

BRUNHUBER: It's a really important issue. Very happy to have you talking about it here with us, Jesse Rabinowitz. Thank you so much for being with us.

RABINOWITZ: Thanks for having me.

BRUNHUBER: The Supreme Court is expected to rule Monday on Donald Trump's immunity claim relating to the 2020 election. Trump's facing criminal charges for his alleged role in trying to overturn the election. The court says Monday will be its final day of rulings this year.

Right after the break, a shocking upset at the U.S. Olympic trials as one-star stumbles on their way to Paris. We'll have the details next. Stay with us.

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[05:51:39]

BRUNHUBER: At the U.S. Olympics track and field trials, Noah Lyles shines once again. CNN Sports Anchor Andy Scholes joins me now.

So Andy, Lyles now heads to Paris with a chance to make history, right?

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yeah, that's right, Kim. So Noah Lyles, you know, he's the reigning fastest man in the world right now. And he's going to get to head to Paris with the chance to be the first American since Carl Lewis in 1984 to win the Olympic double, which is winning both the 100-meter and 200-meter. And last night in the 200-meter final, Lyles coming from behind to

beat Kenny Bednarek. And this was a record time, 19.53, breaking Michael Johnson's U.S. trials record from 1996.

Now Bednarek finished second to Lyles in both 100 and 200, so he's also going to be going for the double.

Now in the women's 200-meter final, Sha'Carri Richardson looking to qualify and go for the double in Paris as well, but she would come up short, finishing fourth in this race. So Sha'Carri will only be running the 100 and doing relays in Paris.

Gabby Thomas, who won bronze in the 200 in Tokyo, she finished first, booking her ticket to the Games.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GABBY THOMAS, TEAM USA SPRINTER: This is incredible. I knew I needed to get today done, and this is the first stop, and there was no gold medal in Paris without making the team today. So I'm just ecstatic. And to be alongside these amazing, incredible women and everyone in the final, just such an amazing race.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: All right, the men's gymnastics trials, meanwhile, wrapping up in Minneapolis, and Frederick Richard becoming the youngest man to win the men's all-around at the trials since 1972. The 20-year-old will lead a U.S. men's team that's trying to earn its first medal since 2008. And Richard, who's a TikTok star, said the crowd helped him secure the Olympic bid.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FREDERICK RICHARD, TEAM USA GYMNAST: I started off with a lot of weight, you know, this is what decides everything, but then there's thousands and thousands of people just rooting for me in the crowds. Thank you, guys. Yeah.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And we got to talk about your family. First, how did you even get the bid up to your parents, the 43?

RICHARD: I didn't -- I guess my coach did it. I didn't even realize they got it so far. But, I mean, they are responsible for everything, for creating me, and now they have a -- yeah, I mean, now they have an Olympian of us as a son, so.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Ah, that smile says it all.

All right, on the women's side, Simone Biles is going to be looking to lock up her third Olympic bid, leading by two and a half points going into today's final.

Now, Shilese Jones, meanwhile, has been ruled out for the rest of the competition and is not going to be going to Paris. She injured her knee on the vault on Friday. Jones, who's medaled at the last two Worlds, is just the latest blow to the team.

Skye Blakely and Kayla DiCello both ruptured their Achilles and will also, unfortunately, miss the Olympics.

Elsewhere, Powerhouse India claiming their first T20 Cricket World Cup title in 17 years in Barbados on Saturday. India clinging to a 16-run lead in the last over when Suryakumar Yadav comes up with an incredible acrobatic catch there, tossing the ball back to himself from over the boundary, robbing South Africa of a critical six.

Now, that was huge because India would go on to win by just seven, finishing their championship run undefeated.

All right, finally, we had one of the sneakiest goals in soccer history last night in the MLS. Atlanta and Toronto tied at one, 97th minute. After Toronto's goalie secured the ball, Jamal Thiare hid behind him.

No one saw him, and as soon as the goalie watched him, as soon as he puts it down, Thiare goes and steals it and would kick it in to win the game for Atlanta. The entire stadium goes nuts. Really hurts for Toronto.

[05:55:03]

I mean, the referee, Kim, was about to blow the whistle and end the game as soon as the goalie would have kicked it, but instead they stole it.

BRUNHUBER: Wow. That can't be legal. Come on.

SCHOLES: Sneaky, right?

BRUNHUBER: Someone's got to say that whole stadium, man on, telling me.

SCHOLES: Luckily, it was in Atlanta.

BRUNHUBER: Oh, there you go. All right, Andy Scholes, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

Well, two young pandas, Yun Chuan and Xin Bao have just arrived in the U.S. at their new home, the San Diego Zoo. They're the first pandas loaned to the United States in more than 20 years, marking a return to panda diplomacy between China and the United States.

They're currently out of public view while they acclimatized to their new surroundings, but are causing plenty of anticipation for the zoo going public. This continues conservation efforts between the scientists in the U.S. and China. A previous pair left San Diego in 2019.

Now there was controversy at Taiwan's Golden Melody Awards. While accepting the award for best Taiwanese Language Album, singer and activist Panai told the audience not to forget China's bloody 1989 crackdown on protesters in Tiananmen Square.

Chinese artists in recent years have largely stayed away from the awards show. There's renewed tension between Taiwan and China, which views the island as its own territory. No Chinese singers attended this year's awards, despite several high-profile nominations and wins.

Thousands gathered in Greece's second biggest city on Saturday to march for LGBTQ rights. People danced through the streets of Thessaloniki, some holding rainbow flags and signs saying, "Love Wins."

The celebration marked the end of Euro Pride Week, which is hosted in a different European city every year. This was a landmark year for Greece after legalizing same-sex marriage in February. It's the first majority Orthodox Christian country to do so.

All right, that wraps this hour of CNN Newsroom. I'm Kim Brunhuber. For viewers in North America, CNN This Morning is next, but the rest of the world is Call to Earth, the Great Spine of Africa.

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