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Biden All Eyes at the NATO Summit in Washington; CIA Director is in Doha for Resumption of Ceasefire Talks; A Look at Project 2025 and Donald Trump; CNN Investigates Airbnb's Hidden Cameras; Argentina Books Finals Ticket at Copa America 2024; Buckingham Palace's East Wing Reopens to Visitors. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired July 10, 2024 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world and everyone streaming us on CNN Max. I'm Rosemary Church.

Just ahead, the NATO summit in Washington goes into full swing today and all eyes are on U.S. President Joe Biden as he seeks to bolster confidence in the alliance.

Mr. Biden is also fighting for his own political future, what Democrats and the U.S. Congress are saying about his chances of re- election.

And a deep dive into Project 2025, a right-wing playbook to radically reshape the U.S. government should Donald Trump win the presidency in November.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from Atlanta, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: Thanks for joining us. U.S. President Joe Biden is trying to calm concerns about his ability to serve another four years in the White House, not just among Democrats in Congress, but also on the world stage. Mr. Biden welcomed NATO leaders to Washington on Tuesday for the group's annual summit. He praised the alliance as stronger than ever under his leadership and announced plans for new air defense systems for Ukraine.

Democrats in the House and Senate have wrapped up their first meeting since the president's poor showing in his debate with Donald Trump, and they're no closer to consensus on whether Mr. Biden should stay in the race. But the White House is praising the president's NATO speech, saying it hit the mark.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: This remarkable progress, proof that our commitment is broad and deep, that we're ready, that we're willing, we're able to deter aggression and defend every inch of NATO territory across every domain, land, air, sea, cyber and space. Our friends, it's good that we're stronger than ever, because this moment in history calls for our collective strength.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Meantime, former U.S. President Donald Trump is ramping up campaigning with less than a week to go before the Republican National Convention. Trump held a rally in Florida along with Senator Marco Rubio, a potential V.P. pick, as he continues to build the suspense on who will be his running mate. During the rally, he escalated attacks on President Joe Biden, seizing on the latest turmoil sweeping the Democratic Party.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The radical left Democrat Party is divided in chaos and having a full scale breakdown all because they can't decide which of their candidates is more unfit to be president, sleepy crooked Joe Biden or laughing Kamala.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: In recent days, Trump has been taking sharper aim at Vice President Kamala Harris, as some Democrats who are calling on Mr. Biden to step aside are floating Harris as a potential successor.

And three Democratic senators are expressing their doubts about U.S. President Joe Biden's political future. Michael Bennett of Colorado told CNN he doesn't think Mr. Biden can win reelection. A source says Sherrod Brown of Ohio and John Testa of Montana told colleagues the same. CNN's Manu Raju has reaction from the House.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Joe Biden is putting Democrats in a jam.

REP. RITCHIE TORRES (D-NY): If the president declines to be voluntarily, then he's going to be our nominee. And we have to make the best of a complicated situation. I think I'm viewing it pragmatically.

RAJU (voice-over): Some resigned to support the president even as they fear he may lose to Donald Trump.

REP. SEAN CASTEN (D-IL): The stakes of this are about what is the future for our country in two different scenarios. And I think there's a lot of concern about will we be able to have that conversation in this media environment? But my God, that's the conversation we have to have.

RAJU: Do you support keeping him on the top of the ticket, Biden?

CASTEN: That's all I would say. RAJU (voice-over): In their first in-person meeting today since

Biden's debate debacle, House and Senate Democrats aired out their grievances and left with no consensus.

REP. MARC VEASEY (D-TX): My concerns are the concerns that everybody that everybody has. What I said this morning and expressed to my colleagues, particularly for members on the front line, is that I think they need to do whatever it is they need to do in order to come back and be reelected. And so if they need to, you know, distance themselves, then that's what they need to do.

[03:05:07]

RAJU (voice-over): Yet some, like Congressman Jerry Nadler, now say they are on board with Biden, despite privately calling for a change on Sunday.

REP. JERRY NADLER (D-NY): He made very clear he's going to run. He's got an excellent record, one of the most existential presidents of the last century. Trump would be an absolute disaster for democracy. So I'm enthusiastically supporting Biden.

RAJU: What did you say on that call on Sunday?

NADLER: I'm not going to comment on what I said on a private call.

RAJU (voice-over): Several Democrats pointedly refused to say if they supported keeping Biden atop the ticket.

RAJU: (inaudible) do you support keeping Biden as your nominee?

UNKNOWN: No comment.

RAJU: Do you support keeping Biden at the top of the ticket?

UNKNOWN: No comment.

RAJU: Do you think that Biden should stay as your nominee?

UNKNOWN: I love that tie.

RAJU (voice-over): Biden has won strong support from senior members of the Congressional Black Caucus.

REP. MAXINE WATERS (D-CA): All I can tell you is I am a big supporter of Biden.

RAJU: What about the people who believe that he's going to lose?

WATERS: I am going to work as hard as I can for him. Biden is going to win. The team Biden-Harris is going to win, win, win.

RAJU (voice-over): In the Senate, Democrats like Patty Murray raising deep concerns about Biden's viability, while some standing firmly by him, including Bob Casey, facing a tight race in battleground Pennsylvania. RAJU: Do you support keeping Biden at the top of the ticket?

SEN. BOB CASEY JR. (D-PA): Well, I've said so numerous times. You heard my remarks over a week ago in Scranton.

RAJU: The other concern is that he could sink vulnerable Democrats like yourself. What do you say to that?

CASEY: I'll leave that to the pundits.

RAJU (voice-over): Following an intense afternoon meeting with Senate Democrats, Chuck Schumer, the Senate Majority Leader, would only say this about Biden.

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY), U.S. SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: I'm with Joe. I'm with Joe. As I've said before, I'm with Joe.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Tara Setmayer is co-founder and CEO of The Seneca Project and a resident scholar at the University of Virginia's Center for Politics. She was also part of the Republican Party for nearly three decades, but left in 2020 after Donald Trump refused to concede the election. She joins me now from Washington. Good to have you with us.

TARA SETAYER, CO-FOUNDER AND CEO, THE SENECA PROJECT AND RESIDENT SCHOLAR, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA CENTER FOR POLITICS: Thank you for having me.

CHURCH: So some House Democrats remain divided on support for President Biden after their full Democratic caucus meeting Tuesday, the first since the president's faltering debate performance. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer says he's with Joe, along with many others. But some say they'll be watching Joe Biden's every move for the rest of the week. Can the Biden campaign get everyone united behind him and what more should they be doing to do that?

SETMAYER: Well, I think it's clear that after the last 10 days of unrelenting media coverage about President Biden's campaign and his faltering debate performance, that he is still in this race. He's been defiant.

The polls have been, they haven't been great, but they also haven't cratered. So it's clear that he's made a decision that he's going to stay in the race. He's the strongest candidate to beat Donald Trump. And they are now rallying support in the Democratic caucus.

Yes, you have a handful of Democrats who have expressed publicly their concern, but it's a very small amount. None of the leaders of the Democratic Party have come out against Joe Biden staying in this race.

And there's a reason for that, because they recognize that it is impractical, logistically risky, and politically unprecedented to ask a president of the United States to step aside as the nominee at this point in the election cycle, and which would probably lead to him stepping down as president of the United States as well, because politically, he wouldn't be able to do one and not the other.

And they're looking at this and saying, Joe Biden has delivered for the American people and he'll deliver for them again. And we're going to stick with him. So my answer to that question is, yes, I think he can recover as long as he continues to have good public appearances, strong public appearances like he has so far during the NATO summit and doesn't have a faltering appearance like he did at the debate again.

CHURCH: So why hasn't there been more of an effort on the part of the Democrats to unite, put the focus back on Donald Trump, compare and contrast their achievements?

And of course, the stark differences between the two men, like Trump's position on restricting access to abortion, wouldn't that change the narrative which needs to happen? That's why everyone's focusing on what's happening with Joe Biden.

SETMAYER: Yes, I would agree with you. And so with the Biden campaign and his surrogates who have been desperately trying to point out the contrasts for several days and months, but the American media has been fixated on -- on the post-debate fallout.

And even though the president has said he is not leaving the race, I mean, it was fair to cover it for a few days, but once he said he wasn't leaving, it was time to move on. And you're starting to see that corner being turned.

[03:10:05]

The reason why the president put out that very forceful letter to the congressional caucus, his congressional Democrats saying, listen, I'm in the race, you're either with me or you're not. But we need to unite, because as long as the Democrats are infighting and have a circular firing squad, to your point, the attention is not on Donald Trump, who is actually the existential threat to our democracy here.

He had a rally tonight that he was talking about NATO and how he didn't even know what NATO was. And he said all kinds of other really off the wall things. To your point, he has made comments about abortion and women's rights, Project 2025 and what that means in the authoritarianism that is written within that agenda that Trump is subscribing to. These are all things that the American people need to hear about besides the fact that Joe Biden is old.

So I think you're starting to see the -- the media turn the corner a little bit. You're seeing Biden's campaign surrogates and the president himself get out there talking about this more so that the American people understand fully what the contrast is between him and Donald Trump heading into November.

CHURCH: Some Democrats say sticking with Joe Biden is collective denialism if the party continues to ignore the negative impact on polling of President Biden's debate performance. Even ABC's George Stephanopoulos, who interviewed the president last Friday, he was stopped and he said he doesn't think the president can serve four more years. What do you say to all this?

SETMAYER: Well, I think the voters decide, not pundits, not people in the media, not folks inside the beltway. Voters decide. And we need to put the polls in perspective. President Bush was down 17 points at this point during his campaign and came back and won in 1988.

Barack Obama only had 50 percent support within the Democratic Party at this point in 2008 because the party was divided between him and Hillary supporters. So there's still a ways to go here. It's not uncommon for the country not to be completely behind a candidate at this point in the race. A lot of Americans are still on vacation. It's the summer. The Olympics are coming up. They're not fully focused on this, but that's why you run a campaign.

That's why you run a race. And thank goodness for the Biden campaign. From their perspective, they have a couple more months to get it together and get people to consolidate behind President Biden because he's got a great record to run on.

And he has demonstrated thus far that the country is not in shambles. We're not in disarray and they've got a record to run on. And so far, he's been a competent president and he needs to keep it up and keep proving himself.

CHURCH: Tara Setmayer, always a pleasure to chat with you. Thanks for joining us.

SETMAYER: Thank you.

CHURCH: As President Biden prepared to welcome world leaders at the NATO summit in Washington, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is also there, where he spoke Tuesday on the sidelines of the NATO summit.

He says Ukraine would be able to push Russian troops out of the south if the United States would assist with its deep strike capabilities. Mr. Zelenskyy also spoke about the importance of defending democracy, saying he hopes U.S. policy towards Ukraine will not change if Trump becomes the next president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: We must be strong and uncompromising all together. And first of all, America and first of all, the leaders of America and the president of the United States as a leader of the free world to be uncompromising in defending democracy, uncompromising against Putin and his coterie, uncompromising to every possible terror.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: The NATO summit began just a day after the deadly strike on a children's hospital in Kyiv, which the United Nations says was very likely done by Russia. The U.N.'s assessment display downplays the idea that an intercepted weapon may have caused the blast. And Volodymyr Zelenskyy agrees, saying Russia always knows where its missiles hit always. The attack damaged the hospital's intensive care, surgical and oncology wards, killing at least two people and injuring 16 others, including seven children.

And CNN's Nada Bashir joins me now live from London. Good morning to you, Nada. So what's the latest on the Russian missile strikes across Ukraine and more specifically on the children's hospital in Kyiv?

NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, Rosemary, in addition to those casualties, as you mentioned, confirmed by Ukrainian authorities. We know, according to officials in Ukraine, that more than 600 patients were forced to be evacuated from this children's hospital due to the damage sustained as a result of these strikes. The Ukrainian government has already pledged to reconstruct the hospital.

[03:15:02]

They have already allocated funds for that reconstruction process. And the U.N.'s agency of children, UNICEF, has also allocated financial support for the families of children impacted and affected in these strikes. Of course, since Monday, we have heard from Russian authorities denying responsibility for the strike, which targeted the children's hospital.

We heard from Russia's ambassador to the United Nations, alleging without any evidence that the strike was actually caused by a Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile. But of course, this is inconsistent with the information that we have been hearing from weapons experts who have told CNN the strike is consistent with a cruise missile rather than an anti-aircraft missile.

And similar assessments have been echoed, of course, by U.N. human rights officials who believe that Russia was behind the strike, as, of course, has been asserted by Ukrainian authorities. And of course, while we did see that strike on the children's hospital on Monday, we saw a barrage of strikes across Ukrainian cities. At least 33 people killed in the capital of Kyiv alone on Monday. So we certainly have seen that impact across Ukraine.

Now, of course, this is happening as we see President Zelenskyy meeting with world leaders in Washington, D.C., on the sidelines of the NATO summit. Ukrainian officials, and in particular Vladimir Zelenskyy, have continued to push for further support from NATO allies when it comes to strengthening Ukraine's air defense systems.

We heard from the NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg. He reiterated NATO's support, but also called for that support to continue, for more to be done to strengthen Ukraine's defense capabilities. And we've seen that pledge of support from both NATO and U.S. allies, of course. But we expect to hear more from Zelenskyy as that summit continues. Rosemary.

CHURCH: Our thanks to Nada Bashir for that live report from London. I Appreciate it.

Still to come, a top U.S. official is in the Middle East for Gaza ceasefire and hostage negotiations. We will have a live report on why optimism over the talks is waning.

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[03:20:00]

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CHURCH: Optimism about a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas is waning as Israel ramps up military operations in the enclave. The Palestinian Health Ministry says at least 25 people were killed and more than 50 others wounded in an Israeli airstrike on a school in Khan Younis.

The IDF says it was targeting a terrorist accused of taking part in the October 7 attack. But Gaza officials say the school housed displaced people. Israel's military says it's looking into reports that civilians were harmed.

Well meantime, the U.S. CIA Director is in Doha, Qatar to continue talks on a potential Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal. Bill Burns will meet with Qatar's Prime Minister, the head of Israel's spy agency and the head of Egyptian intelligence.

Burns discussed the negotiations with Egypt's president in Cairo on his way to Qatar. But several hurdles remain after the Israeli government put out a statement saying it will not abandon key principles.

CNN's Scott McLean is following developments from Istanbul, Turkey. He joins us now. Good morning to you, Scott. So now that optimism appears to be waning, what is expected to come out of this round of ceasefire and hostage release negotiations?

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Rosemary. Yeah, you're 100 percent right. The optimism level for this round of talks isn't what it was even a few days ago.

You have to remember that both sides have come into this with their own set of non-negotiables. And one of the toughest to get past has been the Israeli insistence that the war will continue until Hamas is completely destroyed. And Hamas' insistence that any ceasefire that's agreed to is a permanent one. Obviously, those things are at odds with one another.

But over the weekend, Hamas made clear that it was willing to forego that requirement, and many figured that could be grounds for a real breakthrough and a real chance at a ceasefire.

But then the Israeli prime minister moved the goalposts. Part of the problem is that some far-right members of his own government are not in favor of this peace proposal from the U.S. that Israel is also supposedly on side with.

And so agreeing to this peace proposal could perhaps threaten to bring down his own government. The other problem is that ramped up attacks in Gaza in recent days have really gotten rid of any twinkle of goodwill that may have existed.

As you pointed out, there have been four strikes on schools in Gaza in the last four days. The most recent one was that one outside of Khan Younis that killed 25 people and wounded dozens more people.

The State Department spokesperson was asked yesterday on CNN whether the U.S. is comfortable with that level of civilian casualties. And the answer was very clearly, no. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATTHEW MILLER, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESPERSON: I think it's important to note that civilian casualties have come down dramatically over the past few months from the really catastrophic levels that they were at earlier this year and, of course, late last year. But we want to see civilian casualties completely go away.

And that is why we are pushing so hard, have people in the region right now working to try to achieve a ceasefire that would secure the release of hostages that would alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people that would allow us to surge humanitarian assistance.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCLEAN: So in response to the bombing of the school, Rosemary, the government media office in Gaza called on the international community to put pressure on Israel to end this war.

But the difficulty is that, according to a former Israeli hostage negotiator who spoke with CNN this week, any U.S. pressure to be put on the Israeli prime minister isn't going to have the same effect as it might have previous to President Biden's abysmal debate performance, which has weakened him at home. And perhaps the Israeli prime minister is just figuring that President Biden won't be in office for much longer.

[03:25:06]

CHURCH: Scott McLean, live in Istanbul, with that report, many thanks.

NATO leaders are preparing to get down to business today at their annual summit. We will hear from U.S. President Joe Biden as he tries to calm concerns about his ability to lead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. U.S. President Joe Biden is rolling out plans to send new air defense systems to Ukraine. He made the announcement at the start of the 75th NATO summit in Washington. Mr. Biden says the alliance is stronger than ever and praised its steadfast support for Ukraine. The president's forceful speech was clearly meant to convince world leaders and wavering Democrats that he's fit for office.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BIDEN: Let's remember the fact that NATO remains the bulwark of global security did not happen by accident. It wasn't inevitable again and again at critical moments. We chose unity over disunion, progress over retreat, freedom of returning, hope over fear. Again and again, we stood behind our shared vision of a peaceful and prosperous transatlantic community.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Mr. Biden surprised NATO's outgoing Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Stoltenberg has led the alliance since 2014.

David Sanger is a CNN political and national security analyst, a "New York Times" White House and national security correspondent and the author of "New Cold Wars: China's Rise, Russia's Invasion and America's Struggle to Defend the West." He joins me now from Washington. Great to have you with us.

[03:30:00]

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST AND "NEW YORK TIMES" WHITE HOUSE AND NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Great to be back with you, Rosemary.

CHURCH: So Joe Biden took to the world stage in a high-stakes moment for the U.S. president standing up against Vladimir Putin while also fighting for his own political survival. With the spotlight shining so bright on Mr. Biden, did NATO member nations get the strong U.S. leadership they were looking for when it comes to NATO unity and Ukraine's future, do you think?

SANGER: Well, they certainly got a strong U.S. speech given by a president who has made NATO and NATO's success and unity a central part of his presidency. And to some degree of his campaign platform.

The president had a much stronger voice today. That raspiness was gone. He was reading the speech from a teleprompter, but he made no errors. Of course, when you're doing it from a teleprompter, you're not going to wander off into a strange direction the way he did 12 days ago in the debates.

But did they get strong leadership from the U.S.? And the answer to that, we won't know until November 5th, because there are issues on which you could describe Biden and Trump as having shades of difference.

But when it comes to NATO, they are in polar opposite camps, with Biden believing that the United States is strengthened by its alliances that it's not a burden, even if we're paying the lion's share of the NATO budget and we no longer are.

Or you believe what Trump believes, which is America should just withdraw to its own borders, put up significantly bigger walls. And if anyone comes and messes with you, you whack them. But alliances are not central to his view. CHURCH: And of course, those same NATO members were also there to

ensure President Biden was on track to lead the U.S. and indeed the world for the next four years. Is that what they saw a man who was able to do that?

SANGER: Well, the problem with that the president faces right now is we're all projecting what is he going to be like at age 82 or 83 or 84? He'd actually be 86 by the time he left office at the end of his second term.

And I think that's what's sort of haunting him. Whenever he is asked the forward looking question, he or his aides give a backward looking answer, which is to say, look at the record. Look at what we've done so far. We've beaten back the Russians, as he said the other day. We've checkmated China. I'm not sure we've checkmated China, but -- but in any case, certainly pushed back on China and that NATO would fall apart without Biden there.

And while all of that, you can argue each one of them, but let's say for argument's sake that you accept each one of those, it doesn't tell you what you'd be in condition to do in two years' time.

CHURCH: And of course, President Biden will hold a news conference on Thursday at the end of the NATO summit and take questions from the media. The whole world will be watching. How big a test will that moment prove to be for the president, do you think?

SANGER: So that's more of a test than what he did today, Rosemary, because in the news conference, you are not following a script on a teleprompter. You have to actually have a concise, directed answer. Exactly what he was having so much trouble generating during the debate with President, former President Trump.

So if he can survive that and show that there are no more incidents between now and election day, 120 some odd days away, maybe he can begin to dispel the image that he reinforced during that first debate. But I'm you know, the big question is, can Americans ever unsee what they saw that night?

CHURCH: David Sanger, thank you so much for joining us. Always appreciate your analysis.

SANGER: Great to be with you.

CHURCH: U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris is raising the alarm about Project 2025. It's a conservative blueprint. Should Donald Trump win a second term in November? We'll have details on that after the break.

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[03:35:00]

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CHURCH: Vice President Kamala Harris is raising the alarm over Project 2025. The initiative is a conservative group sweeping plans for the next Republican presidency. CNN's Tom Foreman reports Donald Trump is distancing himself from the controversial proposal.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As much as the attack on the Capitol, as much as a Donald Trump rally, Project 2025 has become a call to arms for Republicans.

KEVIN ROBERTS, PRESIDENT. HERITAGE FOUNDATION: We are in the process of the second American revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be.

FOREMAN (voice-over): And for Democrats.

REP. JAMIE RASKIN (D-MD): I see this as basically a continuation of the work of January 6th. They're basically picking up where the insurrectionists left off.

FOREMAN (voice-over): Project 2025 is the Heritage Foundation's plan for implementing strictly conservative policies as soon as the next GOP president is elected. In more than 900 pages, hundreds of conservative contributors propose putting the Justice Department entirely under the president's control, which critics fear could unleash Donald Trump's open desire to take revenge on political foes.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Look, when this election is over, based on what they've done, I would have every right to go after them. And it's easy because it's Joe Biden.

FOREMAN (voice-over): The plan calls for even further restrictions on abortion rights, wanting every elected Republican in state or federal government to, quote, push as hard as possible to protect the unborn in every jurisdiction. A notion President Joe Biden is tagging hard onto his challenger.

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: This Project 2025 plan will restrict access to birth control. Restricting access to birth control? I'm fighting to protect reproductive freedom.

FOREMAN (voice-over): But there is much more. Project 2025 would expand the military in the name of defense and dismantle the Department of Homeland Security in the name of savings. It calls federal civilian employees largely underworked, overcompensated and unaccountable and wants thousands of those nonpartisan government jobs given to Republican loyalists.

[03:40:07]

REP. TED LIEU (D-CA): This document is creepy. It's a takeover of the American form of government. And it's a collection of extreme MAGA ideas that's going to ruin our way of life.

FOREMAN (voice-over): The plan pushes tax breaks for churches and church schools, goes after health agencies, which backed, quote, "un- American mask and vaccine mandates" and says pornography should be outlawed. And while it does not define porn, it says even librarians caught with it should be registered as sex offenders.

PAUL DANS, DIRECTOR, PROJECT 2025: We are an historic movement of the conservative coalition coming together to make sure that the next conservative president is ready to hit the ground running day one.

FOREMAN (voice-over): For now, Donald Trump is keeping Project 2025 at arm's length, calling parts ridiculous and abysmal. But he hasn't said which parts.

FOREMAN: Part of Trump's political problem here is that several of the authors of this plan are part of his inside team, making it considerably harder for him to say he didn't know much about it.

Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: And thanks for joining us this hour. I'm Rosemary Church. For our viewers here in North America, I will be back with more "CNN Newsroom" in just a moment. For everyone else, it's "Marketplace Middle East."

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[03:45:00]

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CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. A CNN investigation into Airbnb has uncovered shocking evidence and horror stories of hidden cameras. The company has not only failed to protect guests from being recorded, but also worked to keep the complaints from going public.

CNN's Kyung Lah has this exclusive report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHLOE LEBRUMENT, FOUND HIDDEN CAMERA IN AN AIRBNB: It was just like, holy crap, this is a camera.

KYUNG LAH, CNN SR. INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): But it didn't look like a camera. It was a phone charger. Chloe LeBrument's fiance had grabbed it from the bedroom wall of their Airbnb, thinking it was hers.

LEBRUMENT: The Airbnb host had called us on the phone and told us that we had taken a charger that did not belong to us and that we needed to return it immediately.

LAH: At what point did you think, this isn't really a charger?

LEBRUMENT: He became increasingly paranoid. When am I getting this charger back? I think it was like a light bulb moment that we all just went, oh, my goodness, is this a hidden camera?

LAH (voice-over): Across North America, police have seized thousands of images from hidden cameras at Airbnb rentals, including people's most intimate moments.

LAH: What happened when you realized that there was a camera in that charger?

LEBRUMENT: It's so eerie and so creepy. Then your brain starts thinking, what did they see? What happened while we were in that room?

LAH (voice-over): In a small town in Maine, a couple found a hidden camera at their Airbnb. Listen to what the host told police.

DETECTIVE: So they had sex?

AIRBNB HOST: Yeah.

DETECTIVE: And you recorded that?

AIRBNB HOST: I took some screenshots.

LAH (voice-over): The host admits he set up a camera hidden in this clock next to the bed to record unsuspecting guests.

AIRBNB HOST: So there are -- there's stuff of a couple of couples playing around or getting changed. So --

DETECTIVE: OK, so there's -- there's pictures of people that are in intimate situations.

AIRBNB HOST: Yes. OK.

LAH (voice-over): It's more than just a few reported cases. And Airbnb knows it's a problem. In this deposition reviewed by CNN, an Airbnb rep said 35,000 customer support tickets about security cameras or recording devices had been documented over a decade.

Airbnb told CNN a single complaint can involve multiple tickets. And a CNN investigation found Airbnb not only fails to protect its guests, it works to keep complaints out of the courts and away from the public.

LAH: Why don't we know about this?

BELIKS PLATA, REPRESENTED CLIENTS WHO CLAIMS AGAINST AIRBNB: They are trying to keep it secretive. And if everyone knew what was happening, they would not be using their website.

SHANNON SCHOTT, REPRESENTED CLIENTS WHO CLAIMS AGAINST AIRBNB: Airbnb wants to wash their hands clean when they have a host who does something illegal or suspicious. They want to say we are simply a website. We are not responsible for this host. We are not responsible for this property.

LAH (voice-over): Florida attorneys Belkis Plata and Shannon Schott say trying to sue Airbnb if something goes wrong is extremely difficult. It begins when you sign up on Airbnb's website and click agree to its terms of service. You're agreeing to assume all risk. PLATA: The person going to rent the property agrees that if something

happens while they're staying at this accommodation, they're actually prohibited from suing Airbnb. They must go a different route, which is a binding arbitration. It's a way to strong arm someone.

LAH: Is this about controlling publicity?

PLATA: 100 percent.

SCHOTT: Absolutely.

LAH (voice-over): Once they've settled a claim, Airbnb has required guests to sign confidentiality agreements, which CNN obtained, that keep some details of legal cases private.

PLATA: For you to get the check, you must sign the piece of paper so that no one will know this will be swept under the rug.

LAH (voice-over): That's exactly what happened to this man.

LAH: How did you feel signing that confidentiality agreement?

UNKNOWN: Dirty.

LAH (voice-over): This man asked us not to show his face, and we've masked his voice. He and his wife were recorded during a romantic getaway.

UNKNOWN: They had intimate footage of my wife and I. The sexual union between two people is sacred. It felt like an extreme violation of our marriage. It's devastating. It's a travesty.

LAH (voice-over): In this case and others, CNN found that Airbnb does not contact law enforcement once hidden cameras are discovered, even if children are involved. Recording someone without their consent is illegal in every state.

[03:50:09]

UNKNOWN: If people are out sharing their stories of how they were victimized through the services of Airbnb, nobody's going to want to trust them.

LAH (voice-over): This man only found out he and his wife were recorded because police called him months later after another guest found the camera.

UNKNOWN: And they explained that every single room in the house had cameras.

LAH: Every room.

UNKNOWN: The cameras were hidden in smoke detectors.

LAH: Part of the challenge is that the technology has gotten so advanced, these cameras so small that you can't even see them. In this one bedroom, we have put multiple cameras all around and they're hidden in plain sight. This one is in the smoke alarm, an alarm clock and even an outlet. And some of them like this one, I can control remotely on my phone and even live stream.

LAH: What would you like to tell Airbnb?

UNKNOWN: By not doing their due diligence, they're harming families and they're selfishly making a lot of money while doing that.

LAH (voice-over): Airbnb declined an interview for this story, but told CNN incidents of hidden cameras are exceptionally rare. And when we do receive an allegation, we take appropriate swift action, which could include removing hosts and listings. Airbnb's trust and safety policies lead the vacation rental industry.

LAH: After CNN began reporting this story, Airbnb created a new policy that indoor cameras are not allowed inside Airbnbs at all. But as you just saw, it has long been against Airbnb rules that cameras be allowed inside bedrooms. And as you just saw, that didn't stop some hosts from doing it anyway.

Kyung Lah, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Opening statements will begin in the coming hours in the involuntary manslaughter trial of actor Alec Baldwin. A jury was seated Tuesday in the case in New Mexico, where Baldwin is accused of firing a prop gun with a live round which killed cinematographer Helena Hutchins on the "Rust" movie set in 2021. Baldwin has pleaded not guilty, saying he did not pull the trigger and did not know the gun contained live ammo.

Spain are moving on to the finals of the Euro 2024 after beating France two to one. France scored early in the match, giving them a one-nil lead. But that didn't last long. Spain's young 16 year old football star, Lamin Yamal, scored a long distance goal, making him the youngest player to ever score in a men's European championship. Four minutes later, Spain scored a second goal. France tried to recover, but was not successful. Spain will play either England or the Netherlands in the final on Sunday.

Argentina have earned a spot in the Copa America finals after a high- stakes match against Canada on Tuesday. It ends a fairytale season for Canada, who performed better than expected in the tournament. CNN's Maria Santana spoke with fans in New Jersey after the semifinal match.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARA SANTANA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Argentina is on its way to the Copa America finals, and nobody could be happier than that. (Inaudible) fans, they are going crazy here outside of the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. They await the results of tomorrow's game between Colombia and Uruguay to see who will face Argentina in the final. Tonight, they defeated Canada 2-0.

And these fans got to see something very special. (Inaudible) Lionel Messi scored his first goal of the tournament.

Where are you from?

UNKNOWN: Bangladesh.

SANTANA: Bangladesh. And you're a Messi fan?

UNKNOWN: Yeah, Messi, Baklava fan.

SANTANA: And where are you from?

UNKNOWN: Pakistan

SANTANA: Pakistan. And how was it? As you can see, just total euphoria out here. Of course, Canadian fans disappointed tonight. They tried to make history by reaching the final in their first appearance in the Copa America. It didn't happen. And well, 2-0, Argentina. Sunday final in Miami. Let's see who wins this Wednesday between Colombia and Uruguay and the final, Miami, Sunday, July 14th.

Maria Santana, CNN, East Rutherford, New Jersey.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[03:55:07]

CHURCH: Very exciting. Well, reigning men's Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz will play in his sixth semifinal at Roland Garros after his win on Tuesday. The defending champion defeated American Tommy Paul in four sets. Alcaraz will face off against Russian Daniil Medvedev in the semifinals on Friday.

In the women's tournament, Tuesday marked the end of the road for American Emma Navarro. She faced off against Italy's Jasmine Paolini, who's had a season like no other since the start of last season. Paolini has risen through the world ranks from 149th to number 17 right now. Astounding.

Well, some visitors to Buckingham Palace in London this summer will get to visit the room behind the famous balcony where the British royal family often poses. For the first time, the palace is opening the east wing, which includes the room where the iconic balcony is located.

Visitors won't be able to stand on the balcony, but they can look through the curtain down the Mall. Access to this section has been made possible after five years of renovations as part of the ongoing Buckingham Palace reservicing program. Tickets cost AE75 or almost $100 and have already sold out for this year.

I want to thank you so much for spending part of your day with me. I'm Rosemary Church. "CNN Newsroom" continues next with my friend and colleague Max Foster.

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