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Biden: Getting Back On Campaign Trail "Next Week"; Trump, Vance Head To Michigan For First Rally After RNC; Zelenskyy: Told Trump United States Support "Vital" In Protecting Ukraine; Details Emerge About Trump's Would-Be Assassin A Week After Shooting; Israel Confirms It Struck Houthi Military Targets Inside Yemen; Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee Dead At Age 74. Aired 12-1p ET

Aired July 20, 2024 - 12:00   ET

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

LUCI BAINES JOHNSON, DAUGHTER OF LYNDON BAINES JOHNSON: My hope for America is my hope for the tomorrow of all of the world, that somehow, we can come together to recognize the good that is in each of us. If we don't, the consequences are simply too grave.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: And you can see the rest of our conversation online @amanpour.com.

That's all we have time for this week. Don't forget, you can find all of our shows online as podcast at cnn.com/podcast, and on all other major platforms.

I'm Christiane Amanpour in London. Thank you for watching, and I'll see you next time.

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Hello. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Alex Marquardt, in today for Fredricka Whitfield.

And we begin this hour with the 2024, presidential race, which is entering another pivotal phase of the campaign.

Today, former President Donald Trump hits the campaign trail exactly one week after surviving an attempted assassination at a campaign rally last weekend in Pennsylvania.

Later this afternoon, he and his newly minted running mate, Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio, they are going to be holding their first joint campaign rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Notably, today's event will be indoors, unlike Trump's rally last weekend, which was outside.

Now, this comes as President Joe Biden continues to recover from COVID at his Delaware beach home as he presses forward with a return to the campaign trail next week.

Now, despite growing calls for him to end his reelection bid, 35 lawmakers are now publicly urging him to step aside, including a dozen new names that came on Friday alone. But Biden is insisting that he is staying in the race. A source says that he is, "seething at former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi," since some of her closest allies are joining in those calls for Biden to step aside.

Now, for the very latest on President Biden's health as well as his campaign plans, let's bring in CNN's White House correspondent Priscilla Alvarez, who is with the president in Delaware.

Priscilla, Biden's team, they are adamant that he is staying in this race. What more are you learning today?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: They are adamant. And yet, the list continues to grow with more letters pouring in today from Democratic lawmakers saying that the president needs to step aside. Now, of course, this was an important week for the president to be on the campaign trail to shore up support among black and Latino voters. And also, convince those who are skeptical that he has the vigor to be the Democratic candidate and nominee, despite all of the circling questions and concerns.

But of course, just as he was getting underway and doing that in Nevada is right when he was diagnosed with COVID and had to blitz back here to Delaware, where he has since been self-isolating.

Now, over the course of that time, we have seen more of those letters and calls for the president to step aside. Well, the president himself is deliberating and with his closest inner circle as they also feel these incoming messages.

Now, of course, some top officials have said this is becoming wholly untenable, while others make the point that the president is still dug in and has not seen polling or cast doubt on any polling that says that he cannot defeat former President Donald Trump.

Now, the Biden campaign taking to the airwaves yesterday to make clear that they may want to stay in the race, they plan to stay in the race, even as they acknowledge that there are questions about the president's viability.

So, certainly, this is something that the campaign is still grappling with. Even having a call with campaign staff yesterday to try to keep those spirits up amid all of these ongoing letters and public calls for the president to step aside.

You mentioned allies, also of the former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. One of those yesterday was Rep. Zoe Lofgren. We also got a letter yesterday, or he joined a letter, I should say, from Mark Pocan.

And the reason that I mention him is because only two weeks ago, he was on the campaign trail with the president after the debate, trying to get the voters at the Madison rally, excited for the president.

So, I point that out only to show that this has been developing, and it's developing very, very quickly. And amid all of that, the campaign is maintaining their posture. The president is staying in the race, but certainly it is something top of mind for all of the senior officials around him.

MARQUARDT: Now, we know that you're watching very closely and speaking to those in his inner circle.

Priscilla Alvarez, at Rehoboth beach with the president. Thank you very much.

Now, fresh off of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, former President Trump is back on the campaign trail. He's going to be in Michigan today, trying to recapture a state that President Joe Biden turned blue in. 2020.

At his side now, his 2024 running mate, Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, CNN's Kristen Holmes joins me now from Grand Rapids.

So, Kristen, today is the first rally after the convention and the first rally after that assassination attempt in Pennsylvania last weekend.

[12:05:04]

So, what steps are being taken -- extra steps to keep the candidates and, of course, the crowd safe.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So, Alex, I'm not sure if you can hear behind me, because we're kind of far on the small mic, but the crowd is cheering now. They have been doing that every time they see law enforcement go by. We saw about a dozen police officers on bicycles go by. They were cheering them on.

And I heard some supporters, kind of walking up to the venue with a little bit of trepidation. They were saying, does it look safe? It does feel a little bit safer. So, clearly, it's on the mind of everyone here. Now, it's also on the mind of both the Secret Service and the campaign. They ramped up their security ahead of this event.

One big difference between what's happening today and what happened last week, today's rally is indoors. They already believe that makes it more secure. We also know that the city here has closed off several roads around the venue, which is not common for a Donald Trump rally.

The other thing is that Secret Service has increased, not only its agents, but they asked local law enforcement for an extra 50 to 60 officers so that they would have people on the ground.

Now, the other thing we're going to watch for is, once we actually get inside that venue, what does the security look like? Is there any other precautions being taken? Overall, we know that the entire system around Donald Trump is being rethought.

There are likely to not be those kind of big field outdoor rallies that happened last Saturday in Butler, because they do believe those are less secure. They are likely to have a bigger "security package" around Donald Trump. That means a bigger motorcade, more agents.

Now, some of that is -- was already going to be in place because of the fact that he just officially became the nominee, but they obviously increased that in light of what happened last week. And just quickly, Alex, security is not the only thing we're going to be watching for today, as you noted, this is the first time he's going to appear on stage with his new V.P. nominee, J.D. Vance.

We have no idea what a campaign with the two of them on stage actually looks like. We've heard they have all this chemistry. That was part of the reason that Donald Trump liked him. We're going to wait and see what that actually looks like in a campaign sense, and up on that stage.

MARQUARDT: Yes, that's going to be very, very interesting to watch. That's in terms of the optics. But in terms of policy, Kristen, of course, one of the questions of what a Trump-Vance administration would do when it comes to Ukraine, we've now learned that president -- former President Trump, has spoken with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy. What do you know about that call?

HOLMES: Right. So, just to be very clear, Donald Trump is a civilian. He is not a president of the United States, meaning that it is illegal for him to have any sort of negotiation or actual conversation about what he would do with Zelenskyy, that is a violation of the Logan Act.

So, what we do know, what they both put out in their readouts was that Zelenskyy called him. He wished him well after that assassination attempt. And according to Zelenskyy spokesperson, Donald Trump told Zelenskyy not to believe what he hears about if a potential Trump victory would be beneficial for Russia, essentially saying that it wasn't true that would be beneficial for Russia.

But the reason why this is such news, that they had this kind of cordial and respectful call, is because, as you noted, Donald Trump and Republicans have spent months, if not over a year, trashing not only Zelenskyy, but the idea of giving any kind of aid to Ukraine, touting these America first policies.

So, what this would look like moving forward under a Trump presidency, we don't know. All he has essentially said is that he could end the war in Ukraine, but never really given any details as to what that would mean.

MARQUARDT: Yes, and there's a lot of concern, not just among Ukrainian officials, but NATO officials as well, about a potential us cutoff in aid, should former President Trump come back into office.

Kristen Holmes there in Michigan. Thank you very much for all that reporting.

With me now to discuss further is former Republican Congressman Fred Upton of Michigan. He was one of 10 Republicans who voted to impeach former President Trump over the January 6th attack on the Capitol.

Congressman, thank you so much for joining us today. We have lots to discuss now, in these hours since the RNC wrapped up, the former president and J.D. Vance now heading to Michigan county that Trump won in 2016, but then was flipped by Biden four years later in 2020. Now, this year, Nikki Haley also received some support in that area during the primary, despite ultimately losing, of course, that state to Trump. So, do you think that this is a place that will be receptive to this new Trump-Vance ticket.

FRED UPTON, FORMER REPRESENTATIVE OF MICHIGAN: Well, he's going to do pretty well here. You know, Grand Rapids has been a favorite for him. That's how he finished his campaign back in 2016. When he won -- remember, he won Michigan by less than 12,000 votes in 1916, and he finished that night, election night there in Grand Rapids.

This is Jerry Ford territory. He is going to be literally around the corner from the Ford Museum. It's traditionally been a pretty strong Republican district, moderate district. It's now represented by a Democrat, who won because she flipped the district when Trump lost Michigan by 150,000 votes back in 2020.

[12:10:05]

So, Michigan is a key state. It's been a purple state for a long time. By picking J.D. Vance, and, you know, pick all of his family members, I think you're going to see the Trump campaign be here in Michigan a lot. And sends a message, really, to the Biden forces -- I don't know if he's going to stay in or not, but they better have a Midwesterner on the ticket if he expects to -- if Biden expects to win Michigan.

MARQUARDT: Yes, this is, of course, one of the most critical swing states, as you note. And you've been vocal, as we were just discussing with Kristen about the question over support for Ukraine, you've been vocal in your support of U.S. aid to Ukraine.

Earlier this year, you were among a group of former Republican lawmakers who sent a letter to Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, urging him to pass that Ukraine aid bill that had been delayed. Eventually, it was passed. Some $60 billion now slotted for Ukraine.

I want you to listen to what J.D. Vance has said about Ukraine over the last few years. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Why are we spending $130 billion on Ukraine, when we can't even pay our own bills at home?

I do not think that Vladimir Putin is an existential threat to Europe.

I got to be honest with you, I don't really care what happens to Ukraine one way or another.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUARDT: So, if the Trump-Vance ticket does prevail, and House Republicans keep the majority there, what is your biggest concern for Ukraine going forward?

UPTON: Well, you know, when I was in the Congress and I retired last year, I was on the Ukraine caucus. I was there a number of times, the problem solvers caucus, of which I was a vice chair, were the real leaders in putting together that passage in the House that President Biden signed a few months ago.

It's critical that Putin be stopped. I mean, this is a, you know, absolute aggression. I was in Germany earlier this year. The Germans and other NATO allies believe that Putin, if he's not stopped in Ukraine, it will continue through the rest of -- through much of the rest of Europe.

So, this is a very key point for particularly a lot of moderate Republicans who believe in strength through a strong military. We're not sending our own troops there. We're sending equipment, we're sending munitions, much of it is made here in America.

So, this is a big issue. Now, you'll also remember that J.D. Vance went to the NATO conference this last spring. And again, spoke against military aid there. I know that they had a conversation former President Trump and Zelenskyy in the last day or two, trying to -- I hope, assure us that aid is going to continue, but it's going to be in Trump's hands.

We got -- the money was passed through the rest of this fiscal year, for sure.

MARQUARDT: Right.

UPTON: But President Trump can do a lot if he wants to stop it. He can -- he can stop the aid come this next year.

MARQUARDT: We've heard a lot about Republican unity in the wake of that assassination attempt, and, of course, at the Republican National Convention. But missing from the convention were most of Trump's former Cabinet members, big names like Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan, former President George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and more.

Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican leader was actually booed when those voices are not included or even welcomed at the convention.

Is there truly unity in the Republican Party? How do you see it?

UPTON: Well, they tried to get it there. I thought it was well choreographed, but you're right. And you know, he is coming to Grand Rapids, that's the home of Betsy DeVos.

Betsy DeVos was the education secretary -- Grand Rapids is a very strong DeVos area. She is the former state chair of the Republican Party from there.

I don't think -- I don't think she was there. She was certainly didn't have a role. You got remember Mitch McConnell's wife, Cabinet secretary, too, she resigned the day after January 6th as well.

So, for a lot of Republicans, I consider myself a Reagan Republican, they didn't really have a role at all. And we'll see what type of outreach they might have in the next couple months. You know, Trump's speech at the beginning was very conciliatory.

MARQUARDT: Right.

UPTON: His speech, Milwaukee. It changed at the end. So, which Trump in which administration will it be? Michigan is one of those purple states. He is going to have to reach out to the moderate if he intends to win here. But it's also a clear signal to Biden, they better get their act together one way or another.

MARQUARDT: And Michigan is the state that we are watching very closely today with that rally by the Trump-Vance ticket. Former Republican Congressman Fred Upton, thank you very much for joining us.

UPTON: You bet.

MARQUARDT: And still ahead, chaos and confusion as what could be the largest I.T. outage in history shutters businesses around the world, when critical systems at airlines, banks, and even hospitals could finally be fully online. That is the question we are asking.

[12:15:05]

Plus, new details on the shooter who tried to assassinate former President Trump. What investigators say he did, leading up to that shooting? And why Secretary of State Antony Blinken, says that a Gaza cease fire and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas may, may finally be within reach. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:20:05]

MARQUARDT: Right now, work on restorations is still very much underway after a massive global tech outage caused disruptions around the world.

The cybersecurity firm, CrowdStrike blames a bug in a software update. That mistake left thousands stranded and delayed at airports, including yours truly, and caused major headaches for businesses, hospitals, government agencies, and schools.

We're told that the recovery could take several days, maybe even weeks, in some cases.

CNN's Tom Foreman has more on how this all happened.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel like I am being completely screwed over. This is full crap.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): As airports and trains, hospitals and emergency services, media, retailers, delivery companies and even the U.S. space program grappled with the global cyber outage, a stunning admission, a single glitch in a software update from the cyber security company, CrowdStrike, triggered the whole mess. GEORGE KURTZ, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, CROWDSTRIKE: We identified this very quickly and remediated the issue. And as systems come back online as they are rebooted, they are coming up and they are working.

FOREMAN (voice over): This is how it happened. CrowdStrike is a multibillion-dollar cyber security firm which helps many Fortune 500 companies protect their Microsoft operating systems from hackers and viruses.

That requires constant updates, and normally, when one is deployed --

MICHAEL DRISCOLL, FORMER AGENT, FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION: It will be tested extensively, and they will work widely with the providers like Microsoft and other organizations that run these platforms to make sure it is compatible with these networks.

FOREMAN (voice over): But this update was faulty, causing affected computers around the planet to shut down.

Dave DeWalt is a top expert in the field. He was up all night, helping get them back online.

DAVE DEWALT, FOUNDER, NIGHTDRAGON: CrowdStrike was doing everything in its power to stop threats from occurring by doing the updates. But at the same time, you know, the quality control broke down, and we ended up with what we had happen.

FOREMAN (voice over): Government services far and wide were affected by the outage, including in the U.S., Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, social security, and even some state 911 systems.

At the White House, the fact they could all be affected by one mistake is raising caution flags.

PETE BUTTIGIEG, UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION: This digitization in technology has brought massive benefits, but every technology has its downsides.

FOREMAN: As it is, in New York, one of the famous billboards of Times Square was blanked by the problem.

In Paris, final preparation for the Olympics were rattled. And all over --

DEWALT: The banking industry and everything else, couple more hours, you know, maybe the rest of the day, and we'll be returned.

FOREMAN: Disputes about how long it will take to get back to normal.

VICTORIA BAINES, INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY PROFESSOR, GRESHAM COLLEGE: There are estimates that this is going to take some days, perhaps, even weeks, to fully recover from the impact.

(END VIDEOTAPE) MARQUARDT: Our thanks to Tom Forman for that report and for more on all this, I'm joined now by Sean Turner. He is the former director of communications for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

Sean, thanks so much for joining us.

As you watch this global outage across industries unfold throughout yesterday and into today, what is striking you most?

SHAWN TURNER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Yes, it's good to be with you, Alex.

You know, Alex, what stands out to me most at this point, and what I think the public and these industries should be thinking about is, you know, when there are just a handful of companies across the country like CrowdStrike that are responsible for such a large swath of our computer network systems, there are inherent risks just associated with that fact alone.

I mean, when I think about the industries that are impacted here, we're talking about airline, banking, healthcare, industries. All of those industries are industries that have a huge impact in our lives every day.

So, what I really think about when I -- when I see this, is what needs to happen next? You know, how do we ensure this won't happen again? You know, Alex, I think the important thing is that it has to be on two levels. Obviously, there has to be a comprehensive look at this, at CrowdStrike to figure out what happened here. There is already some important -- some reporting that gets to that.

But I also think that with regard to the industries that are impacted, those industries, have to look at their internal procedures to ensure that this kind of thing can't happen even if they are using the handful of companies out there like CrowdStrike.

MARQUARDT: I think it has surprised a lot of people that so many of these critical industries are so reliant, however, indirectly, on one company like CrowdStrike, of course, the U.S. government and others, they work hand in glove with these private cybersecurity companies. But what would you like to see done in the wake of this, more regulation, more diversification? What do you think a solution would be so that when one country -- one company's update doesn't have such a massive effect?

TURNER: Yes, you know, I think that, you know, Alex, you know, I come from the intelligence community. And when you're in the intelligence community, it's -- the intelligence community takes responsibility for ensuring that critical networks are secure.

And I think that while in the open market, obviously, there are a lot of efficiencies to be realized when work with -- by working with companies that do this. I think there are a couple of things, and you alluded to them. I think that it's -- we can't endure the risk of having just a handful of companies that do this. The companies that do this tend to, you know, if another company comes along, they tend to be absorbed or pushed out. We've got to address that there need to be more companies.

But I think this is the end this is the key. When these patches are pushed out, right now, they're pushed out and they go to all of these systems at one time, as we saw here. That process has to change. There needs to be a process whereby these patches are pushed out, there is an opportunity to assess, to evaluate, to ensure that they are running properly on these systems before they go any further. And that process needs to be outside of companies like CrowdStrike.

And then, again, as I -- as I said before, within those companies or companies need to have policies and procedures in place to make decisions about how they are going to ingest these patches. Oftentimes, it is the case that these things come in, and they simply, you know, sort of -- sort of fire and forget that's not taking responsibility for cybersecurity within those companies.

MARQUARDT: And Shawn, because you come from the intelligence community, I want to ask you how adversaries like China and Russia that are so technically capable, how they would view what happened yesterday, and this reliance, perhaps, over reliance on one company?

TURNER: Yes, you know, it's a great question, Alex, and you know, countries like China, Russia, and others, they are always looking for one thing when it comes to our reliance on computer network systems here in the United States. They are looking for complacency.

And in this case, if the reporting is true and the team at CrowdStrike did not follow their own quality assurance procedures, then, those are the kinds of things that our adversaries see as opportunities. And so, I think that what they are looking at here, and you know, this is -- I've seen this in the intelligence community, is they are looking at not only what happened here with regards to CrowdStrike and what that says for sort of how we are thinking about updates of our systems. But they are also looking at the reaction here. How are the airlines, the healthcare industry, you know, others reacting to this.

Because even in that reaction, they see opportunities. Let's not forget that for the countries that you mentioned and others, it's oftentimes not about getting into those systems, but sometimes it's about sowing chaos. And so, they can see opportunities here to not just infiltrate our systems, but also to create a sense here of panic in the United States when they see things like this.

MARQUARDT: Yes, it's been remarkable to see the knock-on effect of this one flawed update and implications that it could have to these very, very vital industries.

Shawn Turner, appreciate your time. Appreciate you putting that into context for us.

TURNER: Thanks, Alex. Good to be with you. MARQUARDT: And we are learning new details about the shooter who tried to assassinate former President Donald Trump last weekend. What he may have used to plan that attack at Trump's campaign rally?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:32:36]

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN HOST: Welcome back, sources close to the investigation into the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump last weekend believe that Thomas Matthew crooks, the shooter, may have deployed a drone over the venue on the day of Trump's Pennsylvania rally. It's just one of the new details that the Secret Service director is likely to be asked about when she appears before lawmakers on Capitol Hill on Monday. CNN's Gloria Pazmino is in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. So Gloria, the working theory now from investigators there is that crooks use this drone to get a view of the rooftops of nearby buildings.

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Alex and this is in fact the most recent clue and detail that has emerged about the actions that Matthew Thomas Cooks took in the lead up to Saturday's shooting. The drone was recovered in the vehicle that Crooks had been driving. And investigators now believe that he actually deployed it on Saturday morning hours before the rally was set to take place.

Now that's a critical detail because it suggests this level of planning and preparation by Cooks, being able to deploy that drone over the field where this rally was scheduled would have given him a real bird's eye view of the location potentially helping him to determine where to position himself so that he could have the very clear shot that we know he had by being positioned on top of that roof.

Now the details are coming together slowly here. In fact, we still do not know the motive behind the shooting. Investigators have not been able to pinpoint that exactly. But here's what we do know about Crooks so far, more than 200 interviews have been conducted. They have been able to search the home, the -- the computer and the phone that belongs to Cooks. We know something about the searches that Matthew Thomas -- Thomas Matthew Crooks was conducting in the lead up to the rally.

And we know that there was an explosive device that was also found inside the vehicle along with a transmitter that was found on his body. Now the internet searches, Alex, are also a critical piece of evidence. We've learned and that he was looking up information both about President Joe Biden and about former President Donald Trump. We know that he was doing research about the DNC about Saturday's rally and about other prominent political figures, including Congressman Hakeem Jeffries.

[12:35:17]

We also know that he looked up information about Ethan Crumbley and his parents. They were prosecuted and convicted in a mass shooting that took place in Michigan. We do not know why he was looking up information about them. But we know that the weapon that was used in Saturday's rally belonged to his father along with more than 20 other weapons that were found here at the family home behind me.

So the critical piece that we are still hoping to learn over the next several days, Alex, is that a question of motive. Certainly will be part of the line of questioning that we're going to hear on Monday, along with all of the security failures that many believe took place on Saturday during this attempted assassination. Alex?

MARQUARDT: And Gloria, one more thing that we understand they may be looking at. There's this reporting of a about a screenshot that Crooks took from a live stream of that rally in Butler, Pennsylvania minutes before firing at the former president. What do we know about that?

PAZMINO: Yes, we know that, as you said, in the minute -- in the minutes before Crooks opened fire, he took this screenshot of a live stream showing the rally on his phone. We can speculate at this point that he was perhaps watching it on his phone as it was taking place as the rally was unfolding right in front of him. He took a screenshot, perhaps to leave it there as some sort of trail that he was leaving behind.

It's impossible to look directly into the mind of Crooks to know what drove him to take that screenshot. But it is definitely one of the clues that investigators are looking at, along with these other searches several months ago. We know that crooks also looked up major depressive disorder and crisis treatment for major depressive disorder. So all of these pieces will have to come together over time.

But right now, lawmakers and certainly the American people have a lot of questions about how this could have happened and why it happened.

MARQUARDT: Yes, so many threads that investigators are looking at to -- to put together this profile of the shooter. Gloria Pazmino, thank you very much for all of that reporting.

And still ahead, Israel has carried out deadly strikes on central Gaza as Secretary of State Antony Blinken. He says that the Israel-Hamas ceasefire and hostage release deal is inside the 10-yard line. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:42:27]

MARQUARDT: And we do have breaking news just into CNN. Israel is now confirming that it struck Houthi military targets inside Yemen earlier today. Now this comes a day after the Houthis claimed an attack on the Israeli city of Tel Aviv. The Houthi say that Israel struck oil tanks and a power station in Yemen's city of Hodeidah. Now this would be the first time that Israel has struck inside Yemen during the course of this war.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says that a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas is within sight. He says that negotiators are quote driving towards the goal line. Those comments coming at the Aspen Security Forum. The U.S., Qatar and Egypt had been working feverishly to negotiate a ceasefire in the Gaza conflict which would see hostages held by Hamas since October 7th released as well as Palestinian prisoners held by Israel and then allow much needed aid, humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.

Joining me now to discuss is Yair Zivan. He is the Chief Foreign Affairs Adviser and Spokesman for Israeli opposition leader and former Prime Minister Yair Lapid. He's also the author of a new book titled "The Centre Must Hold: Why Centrism is the Answer to Extremism and Polarisation." Thank you so much for joining us. We will get to your book in just a moment. But I want to start with this breaking news. We've seen Israeli strikes, of course, inside Lebanon, against Hezbollah inside Syria as well. What do you make of these latest strikes much farther afield down in Yemen?

YAIR ZIVAN, FOREIGN AFFAIRS ADVISER & INTL. MEDIA SPOKESMAN TO YAIR LAPID, BLUE & WHITE PARTY: Well, I think it was an almost inevitable response to the attack we saw on Tel Aviv in the hundreds of attacks we've claimed responsibility over the last nine months. This is all part I think of an Iranian-backed attempt to squeeze Israel from different -- from different arenas, from different frontiers. We have it from the north from Hezbollah, we have it from Yemen, and we have it of course from Gaza as well.

MARQUARDT: Potentially a worrying new front. I want to ask you about the -- the ceasefire talks, Antony Blinken striking a positive tone there saying, in American terms that it's inside the 10-yard line. That means close. There are a number of critics, including your boss, I believe, who have said that Netanyahu isn't doing enough to get hostages home even perhaps rewarding the deal. Do you share Blinken's optimism?

ZIVAN: I think we're all hoping that that's the case. There is nothing more important than bringing the hostages home. There are 120 Israelis still being held in the Gaza Strip and we need to bring them all home. And if -- if we can get to a deal that does that then you will see enormous support in Israel. There is huge support within Israel within Israeli society for -- for that and you see that in every opinion poll. So we hope he's right and we hope that -- that deal is possible and we're not too far away from it now.

[12:45:02]

MARQUARDT: There are a lot of questions about a ceasefire that would go from this first phase which would see some 30 of those Israeli hostages come out. But one of the fears among those critics, again, of Netanyahu is that he would then start up the military campaign again. Do you think that if a -- a temporary ceasefire were to take hold that it would eventually lead to a permanent ceasefire, or do you think that the military campaign would continue?

ZIVAN: So I think it would depend. Last time, we had a ceasefire and a hostage deal. We have to remember it was Hamas that broke it. They broke it before the end of the deal. I'm skeptical about Hamas's ability to -- to maintain any agreement because we're talking about a terrorist organization that ultimately remains sworn to Israel's destruction.

So they broke the deal last time, I'd be worried that they do the same again. But we can hope -- we can hope that it holds that we can bring all of the hostages home. That's really the number one priority, the number one goal for -- for Israel and for Israeli society. It's what we need in order to start rebuilding now.

MARQUARDT: We are going to see the Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu in Washington next week, he's due to -- to sit down with President Biden, of course, if Biden's recovered from COVID. I mean more controversially give a speech to Congress. He was invited by congressional Republicans. He gave a quite bombastic speech in 2015, during the Obama-Biden administration that was not well received by Democrats. And obviously, this speech now comes at a very important moment more than nine months into this war. What do you expect him to say to Congress?

ZIVAN: So I don't know if I can say what I expect. I can tell you what I hope he says. I hope he says that he accepts a deal to bring the hostages home. And I hope he remembers that it is an Israeli national security interest to keep bipartisan support for Israel. And so he talks about the values that we share about the fun -- the foundations, the fundamentals of the U.S.-Israel relationship, which is one that's based on -- on our shared values.

I hope he remembers that that we are -- it is Israel's interest and our goal to always be able to work with both Republicans and Democrats. And what happened in 2015 knock that back. It was certainly damaging for -- for Israel's relations in the United States. And I really hope we don't see a repeat of that this week.

MARQUARDT: Do you worry that Israel is becoming a more political subject here in the United States? And -- and how do you see the perception of Israel since the October 7th for?

ZIVAN: Sure. Look, I worry about polarization in general. And I think Israel fits into that -- into that narrative where we become part of a polarized story. And really, I -- I would say to people who -- who want to be pro-Israeli want to be supportive of Israel and with the relationship, the way to do that is to support bipartisanship and to support building as broader consensus as possible around Israel.

There's no doubt that we have suffered since October 7th, I think entirely unfairly. The -- the war in Gaza is moral and it is just. We have the duty to bring our hostages home, like any other country with anywhere in the world, we have a responsibility to our people to provide them with the kind of safety and security that people everywhere demand. We will have to work on rebuilding some of that reputation. But I think a lot of that comes from places that are unfair and unjust.

MARQUARDT: You have this new book out, "The Centre Must Hold: Why Centrism is the Answer to Extremism and Polarisation." You now have the most right wing government in -- in Israel's history. Netanyahu is deeply unpopular, but the opposition including your team is having a difficult time unseating him. Of course, here in the U.S., many see us as -- as deeply divided as well. So how do you see centrists in Israel and elsewhere taking hold or -- or coming back if the wings left and right are surging?

ZIVAN: Well, I think the first thing I say is the answer to -- to a far right is not a far left or an illiberal left is not an illiberal right, it has to come from the political center. And Israel was seeing in every opinion poll shows that the next Israeli government would be a center, center right government, because there is a desire to move back to what it is that the center offers.

And that's an embrace of words that have slipped out of fashion and politics, but we actually need to hear more of words like compromise, moderation, pragmatism, nuance, complexity. Those aren't things that should scare us in politics and things we should embrace the -- the virtues, not vices. And what the book tries to do with -- with the essays from contributors from all over the world is make a case for political centrism that says, this is the way we fight back against the extremism and polarization and populism that -- that we're seeing across the world and Israel of course included within that.

MARQUARDT: The book is called "The Centre Must Hold: Why Centrism is the Answer to Extremism and Polarisation." Yair Zivan, thank you so much for joining us here.

ZIVAN: Thank you.

MARQUARDT: Appreciate it.

[12:49:16]

Still ahead, a look at the life and legacy of Democratic Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee.

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MARQUARDT: Democratic Congresswoman from Texas, Sheila Jackson Lee, has died. And Jackson Lee spent decades advocating for women and black Americans. She played a major role in the establishment of Juneteenth as a national holiday. She frequently spoke out against police brutality and advocated to prosecute police misconduct.

The Congressional Black Caucus released a joint statement overnight calling Jackson Lee, quote, a patriot and a fighter to the very end. They go on to say, words cannot express the sense of loss our caucus feels for our beloved friend. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries remembered Jackson Lee as an accomplished legislator, passionate public servant, loving mentor and wonderful friend.

On CNN last night, her fellow colleague and Texan Representative Al Green told this to our Laura Coates.

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REP. AL GREEN (D-TX): She had a work ethic that at all who knew her admired. You could not help but admire her work ethic.

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[12:55:07]

MARQUARDT: Congresswoman Jackson Lee announced in June that she had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. She was 74 years old. We'll be right back.

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[13:00:06]

MARQUARDT: The U.S. has a long and bloody history when it comes to political violence.