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Democrats Embracing Kamala Harris; China: Hamas and Fatah Agreement; Japan's Immigration Reforms; Kenya Protests; What is "Brat Girl Summer"?; Secret Service Director Resigns Amid Security Lapse Scrutiny; U.S. Launches Probe into Delta's Ongoing Flight Disruptions; Official: No Plans for Erdogan to Meet Assad in Moscow; Macron Will Not Appoint New PM Until after Olympics. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired July 24, 2024 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[01:00:24]
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Coming up here on "CNN Newsroom.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF UNITED STATES: We've got some work to do.
VAUSE: Re-energized with new enthusiasm, Democrats embrace Kamala Harris as she takes on Republican Donald Trump in the race for the White House.
MATTHEW MILLER, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: There can't be a role for a terrorist organization. Hamas has long been a terrorist organization.
VAUSE: Governing Gaza after the war, the US says no to Hamas despite Beijing broken a unity deal among all Palestinian factions.
After weeks of deadly turmoil in Kenya, the military has been deployed as anti-government protesters clash with a pro-government group in the capital, Nairobi.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Atlanta, this is "CNN Newsroom" with John Vause.
VAUSE: American voters will soon hear directly from the US president on why he decided to end his bid for a second term. In a primetime national address from the Oval Office, Joe Biden is also expected to lay out his plans for his final months in office. His decision to drop out of the 2024 race appears to have brought renewed energy and enthusiasm to Democrats.
With Kamala Harris, now the party's presumptive presidential nominee, holding her first campaign rally in the battleground state of Wisconsin. The vice president made clear she's ready to take on Republican Donald Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) HARRIS: We who believe in reproductive freedom will stop Donald Trump's extreme abortion bans because we trust women to make decisions about their own body and not have their government tell them what to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Kamala Harris began that rally though, by praising President Biden in what she said was a legacy of accomplishment. Mr. Biden returned to the White House Tuesday after isolating for COVID for almost a week.
Meantime, the Trump campaign has now pivoted, focusing their attacks on Harris. A call with reporters, the Republican presidential nominee criticized her record on immigration and crime, even her previous bid for the White House. And the first opinion poll taken since Biden ended his election campaign shows no clear leader if a vote between Trump and Harris is held today.
CNN's Ava Mackenzie is in Milwaukee for Harris' first campaign stop and has this report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
EVA MCKEND, CNN US NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Vice President Harris began gracious in her remarks, talking about President Biden and applauding his legacy of accomplishments. But when she shifted to her election argument, it's clear she wants to be the former prosecutor running against the convicted.
Here's how she talked about their disparate visions for America.
HARRIS: Do we want to live in a country of freedom, compassion and rule of law, or a country of chaos, fear and hate? And in this campaign, I promise you, I will proudly put my record against his any day of the week.
MCKEND: And it is clear that this is a much different campaign than even from just a few days ago. There's so much energy, excitement and enthusiasm here on the ground. When you speak to her supporters, they say even though there's just about 100 days until the election, they believe Harris is the best person to make this argument against Trump. Eva McKend, CNN, Milwaukee.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: The Trump campaign now has 104 days to try and discredit Kamala Harris. The vice president has high name recognition, but polling suggests most voters are yet to form a definite opinion about who she is. More now from CNN's Kristen Holmes.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN US NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Former President Donald Trump and his campaign are still figuring out how exactly they are going to go after Vice President Kamala Harris as this race has taken a huge turn. Now, they argue that they are ready for this, that they have been preparing for there to be an alternate candidate to President Joe Biden for months and been focused on the fact that it would be Harris. They had prepared opposition research.
However, there are still allies that are close to Donald Trump who acknowledge the race has fundamentally changed. Now, we saw a little bit of a highlight of what these attacks on Harris are going to look like earlier today when Donald Trump spoke to reporters. Take a listen.
DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER US PRESIDENT AND PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: She's the same as Biden but much more radical. She's a radical left person, and this country doesn't want a radical left person to destroy it. She's far more radical than he is. She wants open borders. She wants things that nobody wants.
[01:05:04]
HOLMES: Now, the big thing that Trump's campaign advisors argue is that Kamala Harris might have name ID but she doesn't have what they call name education, meaning that most people don't know anything about Harris. You hear Donald Trump there talking about her time in California. We are expecting that to come up a lot.
They are going to try to use this education gap to fill the void with negative information. We know right now it is race between Donald Trump and his team and Kamala Harris to define her in this race.
Now, the other interesting thing that Trump said in this call with reporters, that he wanted to debate Kamala Harris, but that he never agreed to it or he hadn't agreed to it yet, saying he had only agreed to debate President Joe Biden. So clearly saying he wants to do it but leaving the door open there for him to not actually take Harris on.
One thing is clear. We are now in uncharted territory and everyone is trying to figure out what this race looks like ahead of November. Kristen Holmes, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Israel's prime minister is in Washington for the first time in four years and later Wednesday will address a joint meeting of the US Congress. But a number of Democrat lawmakers are expected to boycott the speech in protest over the war in Gaza. Benjamin Netanyahu is undergoing pressure in the US and Israel to sign a ceasefire deal with Hamas and secure the release of Israelis and Americans being held in Gaza.
In Washington, Netanyahu met with some of the relatives of the hostages. Some were left disappointed, saying the prime minister did not engage in subset of discussion. Netanyahu did say he was determined to free all the hostages.
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAEL PRIME MINISTER (through translation): This is an important visit that will give us an opportunity to bring to the representatives of the American people, as well as the American people, the importance of their support in the efforts we are making together with them to bring about the release of all the hostages, both the living and the dead.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Israel's response to those negotiations expected Friday, but may include 11th hour demands from Netanyahu, which could touch on some key sticking points. Netanyahu will meet with US President Joe Biden Thursday and with republican US presidential nominee Donald Trump on Friday.
Meanwhile, Hamas and rival group Fatah, and a dozen other Palestinian factions have signed an agreement on a plan to govern Gaza after the war. In Beijing, the factions agreed The Palestine Liberation Organization is the sole representative of the Palestinian people. However, the Beijing brokered deal did not say what role Hamas will play because it is not part of the PLO.
There is a long history of bitterness between Hamas and Fatah, which dominates both the PLO and the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. Two sides have tried and failed a number of times to reach an agreement to unite the two separate Palestinian territories under one governance.
David Sanger is a CNN Political and National Security Analyst as well as a National Security and White House Correspondent for the New York Times. His latest book is "New Cold Wars: China's Rise, Russia's Invasion and America's Struggle to Defend the West." It's good to see you, David. Thanks for being with us.
DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Great to be with you.
VAUSE: OK. So I want you to listen to China's foreign minister, Wang Yi, and why this agreement, it's called the Beijing Declaration, is so significant. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WANG YI, CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTER (through translation): The most important consensus reached during the talks of Palestinian factions in Beijing is to achieve grand reconciliation and unity among the 14 factions. The core outcome is to make clear that the Palestine Liberation Organization is the sole legitimate representative of all Palestinian people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: So among those 14 factions is Hamas, the militant group which controls Gaza, and that's seen as a breakthrough of sorts. But this agreement does not say how or when the unity government will be formed. It's described as an initial step. There seems to be a lot of missing detail, if you like.
So, as is often the case with many things made in China, is this agreement not quite as good as it first appears?
SANGER: Well, as many things made in China turn out to be, it could be original, like TikTok, or it could be a cheap copy like we used to see in years past. The most remarkable thing about this agreement is that the Chinese are doing it at all. They have not traditionally been peacekeepers, negotiators, or even particularly involved in Mideast politics, much less with the Palestinians, except on the margins.
So now, why are they doing this, because they see this as a role that enables them to take over from something that the United States used to do. And by unifying the Palestinians, come up with a common voice that would represent the Palestinian people.
VAUSE: Well, the secretary general from one of those 14 factions, Mustafa Barghouti was very optimistic about this agreement, and seems to me the fact that it was brokered by Beijing is why. Here he is.
[01:10:06]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MUSTAFA BARGHOUTI, PRESIDENT, PALESTINIAN NATIONAL INITIATIVE: We achieved a much better agreement than any agreement before it's very practical, very detailed. It speaks about the creation of a unified leadership practically, but also because it's signed in China. And China has a very important role to play. Today is a new starting point.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Over the years, unity agreements between Hamas and Gaza, and the ruling Fatah party in the West bank have come and gone. I guess, you know, is this one likely to be any different because it was actually signed in the Chinese capital?
SANGER: I don't think so necessarily but, you know, this gets to the central question, which the Chinese didn't address, which is, are you comfortable with Hamas playing any kind of governing role here? And that's simply not in what we see.
It's one thing to recognize the PLO as the one spokesperson, one representative group of the Palestinian people. It's another thing to say who's going to govern the space. Remember Gaza -- in Gaza, more than nearly 20 years ago, we basically saw Hamas take over in an election and then turn into what it has become since. So this doesn't really tell you very much about who will govern.
VAUSE: Well, the Israeli prime minister, he's also scheduled to address Congress in the coming hours. On Tuesday, protesters staged a sit in at the Capitol demanding Netanyahu end the war in Gaza. He'll meet Thursday with the US president and vice president. Notably, come Friday comes a meeting with the former president Donald Trump.
But why that meeting and how much pressure is Netanyahu under to sign the ceasefire deal and free about a hundred Israeli and American hostages being held by Hamas? SANGER: John, he was under huge pressure to get the ceasefire deal
together before he gave the speech. Clearly, that hasn't happened and isn't happening. And the primary reason, I suspect, is Hamas. But the prime minister himself has gone back and forth about whether he really supports a ceasefire, suggesting that he's still got to go after the leadership of Hamas after this is signed.
Now, he hasn't said how. So we don't know how much he's invested in this deal. We don't know how quickly the deal could come together. And it's entirely possible, depending on what he says, that the deal could get scuttled. I think the White House has been working pretty closely with the Israelis to try tone down what they fear would be the sharpest edges of that speech.
But then he'll go on to see President Biden and obviously congratulate him on his time. The fact that Biden is leaving might ease some of the tension between the two men. It'll be interesting to see what happens with vice president -- with the vice president as she is now the leading candidate. As you know, she's not had extensive experience in the Mideast, but she has been involved in some of the conversations with Netanyahu.
And then he'll go to Mar-a-Lago. And of course, President Trump is his true comfort zone.
VAUSE: Good way of putting it, David. Thank you for being with us. David Sanger there, CNN political and national security analyst.
SANGER: Thank you.
VAUSE: Thank you, sir. Well, thousands of asylum seekers face deportation from Japan. When we come back, we're live in Tokyo to explain why. Also, ahead, Typhoon Gaemi growing into a monster storm in the past 24 hours now bearing down on Taiwan.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:15:54]
VAUSE: Live pictures there from the coast of Taiwan, where it's coming up to 15 minutes past the hour. The outer bands of Typhoon Gaemi are now being felt by the island. Wind speeds are up to 220. That's the equivalent of a category four hurricane.
Gaemi is expected to strengthen into a super typhoon before making landfall in Northern Taiwan in the hours ahead. Businesses and schools have been closed across the island, also in the Philippines, which has recorded heavy rain and winds. Government offices are shut down in Manila. The stock exchange also closed.
After Taiwan, Gaemi is expected to hit China's Fujian Province on Thursday before moving into other parts of Southern China.
Japan is revising its immigration laws, allowing deportation of most asylum seekers who have applied for refugee status three times or more. The move is part of an effort to reduce the number of asylum seekers in detention centers and to remove those with fraudulent cases, that's according to the Immigration Services Agency. But critics say this new law denies asylum seekers a fair judicial process and is a breach of the UN's 1951 Refugee Convention, which Japan has ratified.
Live now in Tokyo, CNN's Hanako Montgomery for more on this. So, where do things actually stand right now? How are these laws affecting refugees at the moment?
HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, it's good to see you. So as it stands right now, thousands of refugees are getting their applications reprocessed and reassessed by the immigration agency. Some will be allowed to stay but others will be forced to leave. And critics have argued that this is a really a huge step back for Japan and its immigration policy because as we know, Japan is in desperate need of more foreign workers, especially to address its demographic crisis and its ailing economy.
Last year, Japan accepted a record number of asylum seekers, but it was still only about 2 percent of the total number of applications. So critics argue that with this new law, it could further upend even more asylum seekers in the country. We spoke to one man in Japan who's been living here for nearly two decades and is still fighting for his legal right to be here. And now he fears that he may be forced to return to a country he says he absolutely cannot go back to. This is his story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MONTGOMERY: We're at a demonstration here in Tokyo where people are protesting Japan's immigration law revision. They're angry and they're scared because they say Japan is tightening its borders even more to refugees who actually need protection.
Among the protesters is Myou Chou Chou, who for 18 years has called these streets home, but not by choice. Born a Rohingya Muslim in Myanmar, ethnic and sectarian violence governed his life.
MYOU CHOU CHOU, ASYLUM SEEKER (through translation): I am still scarred by the bullying and discrimination that I experienced. It's brought me great trauma.
MONTGOMERY: Fueled by anger at injustice, mule Myou joined now deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi's democracy movement at 16. Survival was a daily battle, but he left the fighting behind when the military junta repeatedly and unlawfully detained his father in his place, Myou says. He escaped in 2006. His father enlisted a broker who got Myou a passport and a one way ticket to Japan, a destination Myou only learned about on the day he left.
CHOU CHOU (through translation): I didn't even have time to say goodbye to my mother. I still can't forget that day. I've put my father through so much.
MONTGOMERY: Since fleeing, Myou hasn't seen his family, who are now in a refugee camp in Bangladesh. His only tie to Myanmar is through friends still fighting for democracy who asked to remain anonymous out of fear of persecution. They lamented how Myou, even after years in Japan, was still denied human rights.
[01:20:03]
As one of nearly 14,000 asylum seekers currently in Japan, Myou is safe from political persecution. But assimilating into a country that's more than 98 percent ethnically Japanese has been a challenge for Myou, a reality underscored with three rejected refugee applications.
But now even safety is no longer guaranteed. He fears sudden deportation under Japan's new controversial immigration law.
We just got off the phone with the immigration agency. They said that anybody who was facing any real danger back home wouldn't be forcefully deported. But they acknowledged that this was still a really long and arduous process, and one that they haven't really figured out entirely.
Now, Myou says he faces an impossible choice.
CHOU CHOU (through translation): I don't want to be sent to Myanmar and lose my life at the hands of the dictatorial military regime over there. I don't want to waste what my father did to save me.
MONTGOMERY: Myou, just one of thousands of desperate asylum seekers, finds his life hanging in the balance in Japan with no refuge in sight.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MONTGOMERY: And, John, one thing that really stood out to me in my conversation with Japans immigration agency was how they reassured me that this new law would help streamline Japan's refugee screening process, how this would now free up resources and provide more assistance and more aid to "real refugees." But when I asked them about this new process, they remained pretty elusive. They couldn't identify a clear set of rules, a clear criteria, so it really begs the question who will actually be allowed to stay and who will be forced to leave.
So you can only imagine for an asylum seeker who doesn't have any family here, who doesn't have any legal representation, who can't even speak the language, just how fearful they must be that each day could be their last in a country that they thought would be a safe haven for them. John?
VAUSE: Yes, it is often the case for asylum seekers that they are left powerless in these situations. Hanako, thank you, Hanako Montgomery there in Tokyo. Appreciate it.
In Kenya, six weeks of protests which began over proposed tax increases have turned deadly and evolved into growing demands for President William Ruto to resign. On Tuesday, police use tear gas to disperse demonstrators trying to occupy the airport. CNN's Larry Madowo reports now from the midst of the protests.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're just interviewing people and they start tear gassing one more time. In fact, if you look here, there's an entire row of police officers coming. We were just tear gassing people in a residential neighborhood, essentially, and they got dispersed.
This is a lot of explosions for a residential neighborhood. Flash bangs, tear gas and what sound like either rubber bullets or empty runs.
HARRISON MWANZIA, NAIROBI RESIDENT: This is a residential area whereby you can't fire a live bullet like this one. And we have kids around.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People should have humanity, and also people should have common sense.
MADOWO: These people are already in their homes. They're in the balconies. They can't go any further. They're off the streets and in this cul de sac. And police are still here. So I'm not sure how much further they could possibly go.
These began six weeks ago as protesters against the finance bill. When President Ruto did drop that, he was forced to fire his entire cabinet now escalated into protests about President Ruto's own legitimacy, about corruption in his own government, about the high cost of living, and especially more recently about the more than 50 people that have been killed in protest since they began.
Do you support the young people who are protesting?
SARAH, NAIROBI RESIDENT: Yes, I support them because they're helping us. Those people who cannot talk like us, we cannot speak.
MADOWO: The protesters didn't achieve that total shutdown they planned on. They didn't occupy the airport either, but they did keep parts of the city to a standstill. President William Ruto has expressed frustration with how long these protests have gone on. He has declared enough is enough. But the response from the protesters appears to be they will determine when they call it quits. Larry Madowo, CNN, Nairobi.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: At least 200 people are reported dead after two landslides in Southern Ethiopia. Authorities feared that number could still rise. Most were buried in the first landslide caused by heavy rain, then another landslide, Monday, killed rescuers who were there to help digging with shovels as well as their bare hands.
Ethiopia is in the middle of its rainy season when landslides are common. Prime minister is sending federal officials now there to try and assist.
Still ahead here on CNN, remember when bad was good? If you do your role now, being called a brat is cruel, especially for Kamala Harris and the young people.
[01:25:14]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Welcome back, everyone. I'm John Vause. You're watching "CNN Newsroom."
Well, it's a whole new election campaign in the United States that means the Trump campaign needs a new strategy. And while Donald Trump says he's willing to debate US Vice President Kamala Harris more than once, notably, there's no agreement on when those debates may happen. A second debate between Trump and President Biden on ABC was set for September, but that obviously won't happen.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
TRUMP: I haven't agreed to anything. I agreed to a debate with Joe Biden but I want to debate her. And she'll be no different because they have the same policies. I think debating is important for a presidential race, I really do. I think that you have to get -- you sort of have an obligation to debate.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
VAUSE: Harris, a former prosecutor, seems determined to focus on Trump's felony convictions and other scandals, telling supporters she has dealt with predators, fraudsters and cheaters and she knows Trump's type.
Well, 81-year-old President Biden was struggling to win over younger voters. It seems his 59-year-old vice president and now presumptive presidential nominee is brat, a compliment in the world of Gen Z, for everyone else over the age of 26. CNN's Anna Stewart, age 37, explains what brat actually means.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Last summer, the world went pink.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So cool.
STEWART: Buses, shop fronts and billboards. This year, pink is out and lime green is in from. From cosmetics retailers, this now TikTok famous deli in Charleston, even London Zoo got in on the action. Charli XCX own this trend with the launch of her "Brat" album in June. Slime green, basic font. It's irreverent.
Am I surprised that it's inspired a whole summer trend, a little bit.
(MUSIC)
STEWART: You can look to music videos like 360 for inspiration or get the definition from the artist herself.
CHARLI XCX, SINGER: It can also be so trashy. Just like a pack of cigs and, like, a Bic lighter.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, right.
CHARLI XCX: And like a strappy white top.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
CHARLI XCX: With no bra.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
[01:29:48]
CHARLI XCX: That's like kind of all you need.
STEWART: Beyond that, it's hard to really nail down what Brat Girl Summer looks like.
Do you know the answer to this question?
EDGAR WRIGHT, FILM DIRECTOR: Charli XCX.
STEWART: Yes. He knows. He knows.
Stumbling upon film director Edgar Wright was worth further investigation.
WRIGHT: Charli XCX. There we go.
STEWART: Are you Brat Girl Summer?
WRIGHT: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I hope so. Not today. I don't feel like I am today. But like the boots kind of are.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: SPF and your girlies.
STEWART: What? What does that even mean?
This is just the latest micro trend. Recent ones include Gorpcore, Coastal Grandma, and last year's Tomato Girl Summer.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it has a bit of that if you know you know angle. Like, if you understand it, you want to buy into it.
It doesn't guarantee viral success. But it's just very easy to hop on and people will enjoy it.
STEWART: With engagement that easy, even politicians are having a Brat Girl Summer. It was a bratty election campaign for the U.K. Green Party. And now, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris is hoping slime green will appeal. And Charli approves.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Go enjoy your Brat Girl Summer.
STEWART: Oh, my God, thank you. You too. Have a Brat Girl Summer.
Have fun.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bye.
STEWART: Bye.
I like Brat Girl Summer.
Anna Stewart, CNN -- London.
Do you know what Bra Girl Summer is?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: With us now live from San Francisco is Abigail De Kosnik, associate professor at the Berkeley Center for New Media at the University of California.
Thank you Abigail for being with us.
ABIGAIL DE KOSNIK, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, BERKELEY CENTER FOR NEW MEDIA, UNIVERSITY OF California: Thank you.
VAUSE: So here is an example of Kamala Harris bratified, I think, on TikTok. Watch this.
(MUSIC)
VAUSE: Explain what's actually happening here in terms of what will traditionally be seen as kind of negatives and now actually positives working in favor of the vice president, especially with younger voters. And for want of a better term this has happened sort of organically. It's not sort of been planned. It's not astroturf, if you like.
DE KOSNIK: Yes, absolutely I think that Charli XCX seeing an opportunity to elevate both herself and Kamala Harris' campaign at the same time on Sunday was tremendous. It was a tremendous gift for the Harris campaign.
Charli XCX saying Kamala is brat on social media, birthed you know, 10,000 TikTok videos seemingly almost instantly. And it is organic. It is coming from young Americans. And it definitely, you know, Charli XCX's "Brat" transforms this derogatory term "brat" into positive, that means owning yourself, owning all the parts of you, including the ugly parts, the messy parts, the rude parts.
But also, you know, owning that that means that if you're brave enough to admit that you're messy, then you are the leader. You are the fearless one. You are the person that can let the world see all of you. And that's what it means to be a Brat girl.
And for Kamala Harris to be called Brat by Charli XCX means that that artist relates to this politician in a positive way and sees that fearlessness, that courageousness in this politician.
And so do all of the TikTokers and social media influencers meming Kamala as Brat, right now.
VAUSE: Put it all out there -- the good, the bad and the ugly.
So when Kamala Harris walked onto stage for her first campaign rally as the presumptive presidential nominee. She walked out to the sounds of Beyonce. Listen to this.
(MUSIC)
VAUSE: Beyonce was quick to give approval for the songs they used for the rest of the campaign. That says a lot.
Then there's a Trump campaign which has received some kind of cease- and-desist order from Adele, Aerosmith, the Beatles, Elton John, Guns and Roses, Phil Collins, The Rolling Stones, Prince, Leonard Cohen, Neil Young, Pavarotti, Nickelback, Ozzy Osborne, Rihanna, Queen, the Village People and a whole lot more.
What does that say politically about these two candidates?
[01:34:45]
DE KOSNIK: I think it's no secret that Hollywood and celebrity America tends to side Democrat. If you look at the celebrities who are on Kamala Harris' side right now, who have cleared for her Cardi B, Jessica Alba, Beyonce implicitly, Charli XCX, you know.
And on Trump's side, who does -- who -- what celebrities does he have? He has Kid Rock and he has Hulk Hogan both of whom were famous several decades ago.
So Beyonce is obviously of the moment in every moment and has declared for the Democratic presidential nominee explicitly since 2016. And so it isn't too much of a surprise that Beyonce is allowing the Harris campaign to use her song but it is an implicit endorsement. I expect an explicit endorsement from Beyonce soon.
VAUSE: Yes. And there's Scott Baio who's on the Republican side apparently.
DE KOSNIK: Thats right. Good point.
VAUSE: Donald Trump was once considered the king of social media. His 3:00 a.m. tweets would spark global reaction. But then he was banned. "The Washington Post" though has an analysis of how Trump, you know, primarily uses his own platform, Truth Social at the moment.
It reports "His following is diminished, but his posting has accelerated. He has traded combative tweets for even more belligerent screeds. Diatribes against his perceived enemies have drawn gag orders from judges in multiple cases.
His media diet has become almost exclusively right wing. Above all, he persists in spreading lies about his 2020 election loss deep into his campaign for another term."
So if the king has fallen, has he been replaced by the meme queen for the Gen Z, Kamala Harris?
DE KOSNIK: Donald Trump has an extraordinary fan base and mobilizes social media and so do his followers in a very powerful way. They mobilize on social constantly, voluminously and effectively. Within the fandom people pick up on what Trump is saying and repeat it. So that's effective spread. That is -- that is real reach from a social media influencer.
What is so great about Kamala Harris taking the place of Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee, is that she is very memable (ph). TikTok was behind her well before she ascended to the nominee position. And finally, there is a feeling among I think American youth that we have an answer to the Donald Trump social media juggernaut.
So the KHive, as it's called on social media, the Kamala Harris fandom is really coming out strong for her and is able to push and spread and meme her messaging and messaging on her behalf. Just as far, you know, with just as much reach as Donald Trump's fandom --
VAUSE: And just very quickly
(CROSSTALKING)
DE KOSNIK: -- even now.
VAUSE: Yes. We're almost out of time. So just very quickly just compare, this just seems to be another stark contrast between Harris and Trump. You know, his tweets often negative and attacking but hers has just seen kind of positive and fun.
DE KOSNIK: Absolutely. The Kamala Harris fandom is joyous. It has a positive spirit and in that sense, it is very brat. That is what the meaning of brat is. And that's "brat girl summer" is to come hard, come as yourself and come out ahead.
VAUSE: Abigail De Kosnik, I think you're brat. Thank you for being with us.
DE KOSNIK: Thank you. I appreciate the compliment.
VAUSE: You're welcome.
VAUSE: Well, the head of the U.S. Secret Service has resigned one day after admitting to security lapses in the attempted assassination of Donald Trump.
The announcement by Kimberly Cheatle comes after a combative hearing before the House Oversight Committee where she angered lawmakers by refusing to answer questions about the shooting.
CNN's Michael Yoshida has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MICHAEL YOSHIDA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kimberly Cheatle out as director of the Secret Service. Cheatle resigning amid intense scrutiny following the attempted assassination of former president Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania rally earlier this month.
REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: I'm happy to see that she has heeded the call of both Republicans and Democrats. Now, we have to pick up the pieces.
YOSHIDA: Members of both parties have been calling for her to step down, mounting pressure that only grew following a contentious hearing on Capitol Hill Monday.
REP. NANCY MACE (R-SC): you're full of today. You're just being completely dishonest.
REP. RO KHANNA (D-CA): If you have an assassination attempt on a president, a former president or a candidate, you need to resign.
REP. ANDY BIGGS (R-AZ): You should have come today ready to give us answers. I call upon you to resign today.
YOSHIDA: Unwilling to answer many questions from the House Oversight Committee.
KIMBERLY CHEATLE, FORMER SECRET SERVICE DIRECTOR: We are just nine days out from this incident and there is still an ongoing investigation.
[01:39:46]
YOSHIDA: Cheatle provided little clarity on how a gunman was able to get access to a roof that was so close and with a clear line of sight to the former president. The gunman's bullets nearly missed Trump's head but left one rally-goer dead and others injured.
CHEATLE: The Secret Service's solemn mission is to protect our nation's leaders. On July 13, we failed.
YOSHIDA: Cheatle's resignation comes as lawmakers and an internal government watchdog move forward with investigations into the agency's handling of Trump's protection.
In Washington, I'm Michael Yoshida reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: When we come back, flight disruptions at Delta Airlines has left thousands of travelers frustrated. Now a new investigation is underway by the federal government. Details on that when we return.
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VAUSE: Ongoing flight disruptions at Delta Airlines now under investigation by the federal government. Over 6,000 flights have been canceled since Friday's global tech outage impacting more than half a million travelers.
And airline officials warned the chaos could continue for another week.
CNN's Isabel Rosales has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DYLAN STEELE, FEDERAL WORKER: It's been an experience. It definitely has been an experience.
ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Delta Airlines still struggling five days after a massive CrowdStrike outage caused the airline's systems to crash, leaving its customers stranded, while other airlines are back to normal.
STEELE: United Airlines seems to be back up and running.
ROSALES: Delta has canceled more than 6,000 flights since Friday, and accounts for 66 percent of all the flight cancellations in the U.S. on Tuesday.
Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson Airport, Delta's headquarters and largest hub has been left in chaos. Rows and rows of bags lined the floors of the world's busiest airport.
Even celebrities like Charles Barkley are searching through it.
CHARLES BARKLEY, FORMER NBA PLAYER: I'm looking around. It's going to be a minute because there's a lot of luggage here. I just flew in today, didn't have any issues. Well, I don't know that yet. I haven't found my golf clubs yet.
ROSALES: Frustration is everywhere.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're not being picky. I'm just -- I will go anywhere in North Carolina but he booked us some tickets and before we got out of the airport, they had canceled them, five minutes later.
UNIDENTTIFIED FEMALE: This is out of control. It's not -- it's not ok.
ROSALES: Dozens of Delta employees from all different departments have jumped in to ease the pain for passengers.
BARKLEY: I fly Delta twice a week for 24 years. They're always been fantastic. I've never had issue. But in fairness though, they can't do anything about this.
ROSALES: But the Department of Transportation doesn't agree. Secretary Pete Buttigieg today launching an investigation into Delta.
The airline's CEO, Ed Bastian, has apologized to passengers.
The airline responded in a statement saying in part: "Delta is in receipt of the department's notice of investigation and is fully cooperating. We remain entirely focused on restoring our operation. Delta teams are working tirelessly to care for and make it right for customers impacted by delays and cancellations.
Such meltdowns are not new. Earlier this year, DOT reached a $140 million settlement with Southwest Airlines following an investigation into similar systems problems triggered by weather over the 2022 holiday.
[01:44:52]
ROSALES: Like with that meltdown, Delta's system that schedules crews for flights failed.
RENEE ROWE, STRANDED PASSENGER: They would cancel, delay, bump and then it would start all over again.
ROSALES: And it could be several more days of headaches for passengers dealing with delays, these cancellations, and lost luggage, just like this.
We've also gotten a clear picture of the impacts of what's become now a Delta meltdown. Pete Buttigieg, the secretary of Transportation saying that half a million Delta passengers have been impacted. His office has proceed received over 3,000 complaints about this issue and about Delta.
Isabel Rosales, CNN -- Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Alphabet, the parent company of Google, has posted better than expected revenues for the second quarter, driven by strong digital ad sales and demand for its cloud computing services.
Revenue was up 14 percent from April to June to almost $85 billion for the year after its stock is up 30 percent. The company is competing with Microsoft and Amazon as all three continued to spend billions on artificial intelligence.
Second quarter profits at Tesla though have plunged down more than 40 percent from a year ago and the first time Tesla has reported consecutive quarters of declining sales. Shares fell about 8 percent in in after-hours trading Tuesday. Tesla warned growth in new car production this year may be notably lower than last year.
CNN's Clare Duffy has more.
CLARE DUFFY, CNN BUSINESS WRITER: It's kind of a surprise. We actually saw revenue tick up about 2 percent year over year, which is sort of a good result for them given the fact that deliveries were falling. But it's this continued increased competition in the EV market.
Tesla has been cutting costs, trying to bring consumers back, but it doesn't look like they're buying it. At the same time, I had to notice that Tesla acknowledged in this report that its operating expenses are increasing because it's investing in AI.
And so it's having to continue to invest in this movement that all of the big tech companies are taking at a time that's really tricky for this company.
I think we'll be waiting to hear if Elon Musk talks about things like the self-driving Robo-taxi that is supposed to turn things around. But right now, things are not looking great.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: When we come back here, the Olympic uniforms which have gone viral. Guess which company -- this country rather -- while they gave it away.
Well all right. Mongolia.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
Turkish officials are denying reports President Recep Tayyip Erdogan plans to meet with his Syrian counterpart in Moscow next month. This comes after anti-Syrian riots and violence rocked Turkey earlier this month.
CNN's Scott McLean reports now from Istanbul.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: More than a decade since war sent millions of Syrian streaming into Turkey, their welcome it seems, is now well-worn.
This month, these images of protests and riots targeting Syrian businesses and cars in several cities went viral across Turkey. Politicians called for calm at home and called Damascus looking for a solution that may finally allow Syrians to go back.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is seeking a meeting with the Syrian president he once sought to overthrow. But President Bashar al Assad says he won't meet unless the agenda includes a withdrawal of Turkish troops from Syria.
[01:49:52]
MCLEAN: There are more than 3 million Syrians in Turkey and many more here undocumented, less than 10 percent of Syrian adults actually have a work permit here and there are countless kids who are not in schools.
Many Turks complained that some Syrians have failed to integrate, but a lot of Syrians would tell you that Turkey hasn't made it easy.
You didn't feel very welcome.
MOHAMMAD SHBEEB, DEPORTED SYRIAN: No, at all. In six years, no I didn't feel like this society could accept ME.
MCLEAN: Mohammad Shbeeb learned the language in the six years he spent undocumented in Turkey but he was abruptly deported this month to a Turkish-controlled part of northern Syria that Ankara calls a safe zone.
Would you call it a safe zone?
SHBEEB: Theres bombing sometimes from SDF or even the regime. So no, it's not safe at all.
MCLEAN: Ebubekir Husamoglu is a Syrian success story. He had just arrived in Turkey when war broke out at home. So he stayed. He's now a Turkish citizen.
Right now, is integration easy in Turkey.
EBUBEKIR HUSAMOGLU, SYRIAN-TURKISH CITIZEN (through translator): Integration depends on two things. Effort on the part of migrants and for citizens of the country to accept them as part of society.
MCLEAN: That's like -- is all of that happening right now?
HUSAMOGLU: Not completely, no.
Right now, there is no acceptance of Syrians in Turkey. And this makes it more difficult for them to integrate.
MCLEAN: Ankara says almost 700,000 Syrians have already returned and insist they left only voluntarily. But some Turkish opposition parties are pledging to send all of them back voluntarily or otherwise.
CENK OZATACI, DEPUTY CHAIRMAN IYI PARTY: Demographic structure and identity of Turkish society is under threat.
MCLEAN: Has integration ultimately been a failure?
OZATACI: Yes, because of the cultural differences, because of the historical divergence, because of their national identity.
MCLEAN: Isn't it unsafe to send these people back?
OZATACI: If we send now, yes, it might be. But if we provide this (INAUDIBLE) ground for Syrian refugees, in this case, repatriation is not a choice, it's an obligation.
MCLEAN: Whether Erdogan meets with Assad or not, the pressure to do something isn't going away.
BITAL BAGIS, SETA ANALYST: Immigration and refugees, this is the main concern. And that is also becoming actually political argument against the incumbent government in Turkiya and it definitely it has turned into something that needs to be resolved.
MCLEAN: Scott Mclean, CNN -- Istanbul.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: French President Emmanuel Macron says the Paris Olympics will delay the appointment of a new prime minister for a few weeks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EMMANUEL MACRON, FRENCH PRESIDENT: My desire is, as soon as we are able to form a government because the country needs a government to make decisions, prepare the budget, take decisions for it and so evidently until mid-August, we have to be focused on the game.
And then after that based on how our discussions progress, it's my responsibility to name a prime minister and to hand that person the task of forming a government and to get the widest possible unity that will allow them to act and achieve stability.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Prime Minister Gabriel Attal stepped down earlier this month after Macron's centrist alliance was defeated in snap elections. But he continues on for now in a caretaker role.
The victorious leftist New Popular Front Coalition proposed a financial crime specialist for the role of prime minister. French president says, what matters is who can win a majority in the national assembly.
The president of the International Olympic committee says the message of the games is more important during times of geopolitical tensions. The comments come just two days ahead of the opening ceremony when thousands of spectators will gather along the banks of the River Seine.
The Olympic torch made his way to Versailles on Tuesday, right now, the torch is on its way to the outskirts of Paris before making its way to the city center for Fridays ceremony.
The Olympic uniform for Mongolia is a hit on social media, mostly because of the intricate design and stunning details. They'll be worn during the opening and closing ceremonies and the designers say they'd be less (ph) stunned by the response.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: the three colors of our flag -- red, blue, and gold. And this is the symbol that everybody in Mongolia loves, represents longevity.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: these Olympic uniforms have captivated the Internet.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This won the Olympics before it even started,
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: it looks like everything has been really well thought out. I love the little bags.
[01:54:46]
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Michele&Amazonka, a family run business set up in Ulaanbaatar in 2015, designed the uniform. Two sisters are the designers the third is the company's CEO. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The international response was mind-blowing. We
did not expect that the social media would become crazy about the designs.
We are a fashion company trying to create modern Mongolian fashion.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The clothes are rich in symbolism and represent Mongolian culture and tradition developed with the input of the National Olympics Committee, athletes and designers.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mongolian clothing cultures spans through several centuries. It's very rich. We have a lot of ethnic groups, all of which has different elements in their clothes.
You can see that white nine banners that actually means that are (INAUDIBLE) has begun not the Mazhar Olympics. And it's the symbol of our unity.
We also included the mountain to represent the hard work of athletes and the hawk is also a symbol of our warriors. We embroider it with the golden thread.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The designers wanted to make sure the costumes were also practical, light and suitable for the hot weather.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Female athletes expressed that they would like to have some kind of bag or pouch. They need their phones, napkins, other small stuff.
We'll watch the opening ceremony together. Probably there will be a lot of crying, screaming, and hugging.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Well there's a new first in the diverse collection of Barbie Dolls. Toymaker Mattel, has made its first ever Blind Barbie, with a white cane with a movable elbow joints to make using the cane look realistic.
Broadcaster and disability rights advocate was notably moved when she became the first blind person in Britain to interact with the doll. This Barbie also has sunglasses and texture fabrics to engage the sense of touch.
Other dolls in this diverse collection include Barbie in a wheelchair, hearing loss Barbie, or with Down Syndrome Barbie.
Thank you for watching. I'm John Vause.
Please stay with us. CNN NEWSROOM continues with my friend and colleague, Rosemary Church in just a moment.
See you back here tomorrow.
[01:57:03]
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