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Biden and Netanyahu to Hold Key Talks in Coming Hours; Netanyahu Defends Israel's Actions in Speech to Congress; Harris Faces Right-Wing Attacks Over Her Modern Family; Videos Show Police Roughing Up Men at Manchester Airport. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired July 25, 2024 - 04:30   ET

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

[04:30:00]

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: She was ahead of all of them. And she's still standing, so it's safe.

CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN ANCHOR: I know, she's Wonder Woman, isn't she? Melissa, thank you so much.

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm not hospitalized yet, you guys.

MACFARLANE: Looking forward to it. And of course, be sure to watch our special one-hour program, "AIMING FOR GOLD," this Friday at 7 p.m. Paris time. That's 1 p.m. Eastern time in the U.S. We'll be bringing you the sights and sounds from the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Paris.

FOSTER: Still ahead, U.S. President Joe Biden will host Israel's Prime Minister for high-stakes talks at the White House. Details on the meeting, and Benjamin Netanyahu's competitive address to Congress next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACFARLANE: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. Here are some of today's top stories.

In a primetime address from the Oval Office Wednesday, U.S. President Joe Biden said serving the nation has been the privilege of his life. He also said defeating Donald Trump was more important than his own personal ambition, and that is why he ended his bid for a second term.

Typhoon Gaemi is expected to make landfall in mainland China later today. The slow-moving storm sat off the coast of Taiwan for hours Wednesday, devastating the island and killing at least two people there. At least 13 people died in the Philippines due to the storm.

[04:35:00]

CrowdStrike is attempting to make up for their huge tech failure last week by offering its vendors a $10 Uber Eats voucher. But if you're personally affected by the outage, you're out of luck. This offer is not for customers.

FOSTER: Israel's Prime Minister set to meet with U.S. President Joe Biden for key talks at the White House today. The visit follows Benjamin Netanyahu's nearly hour-long address to Congress on Wednesday. He lashed out at critics of his handling of the war in Gaza.

The Israeli leader criticized the International Criminal Court and allegations that Israel is starving Palestinians. And he suggested accusations of genocide were anti-Semitic.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: The ICC is trying to shackle Israel's hands and prevent us from defending ourselves. And if Israel's hands are tied, America is next. And I'll tell you what else is next. The ability of all democracies to fight terrorism will be imperiled. That's what's on the line. So let me assure you, the hands of the Jewish state will never be shackled. Israel will always defend itself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: And Mr. Netanyahu also disparaged the protesters who've openly opposed his handling of the war.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NETANYAHU: I have a message for these protesters. When the tyrants of Tehran, who hang gays from cranes and murder women for not covering their hair, are praising, promoting and funding you, you have officially become Iran's useful idiots.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Following his speech, protests did erupt near Union Station, the main railway station in the U.S. capital. Some burned flags and effigies of Netanyahu and a pro-Hamas slogan was spray-painted on a monument. The White House called the scenes disgraceful. Nine people were arrested. Salma's here. Iranian idiots?

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I mean, let's start with a fact check, because I think he painted the protests with this broad-stroke brush, saying that they were all funded by Iran, that this was all backed by Iran. That's simply not true. And it is indicative of the tone, I think, of the speech, of this hour-long speech, which was extremely combative and divisive.

And one could even say, maybe catered to who was inside the room, because it's important to know who was not in the room. And that's dozens of democratic lawmakers, some who boycotted the speech, some who attended alternative events with families of hostages and other events, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who said it was one of the worst speech from a foreign dignitary ever. That was her quote on Twitter. And it's significant because this was his fourth speech to Congress. That's more than any foreign dignitary, any world leader has ever addressed U.S. lawmakers. Winston Churchill spoke to lawmakers three times, four times for Netanyahu.

So extremely significant to also see what he did not speak of in the speech, and that's very intensive ceasefire negotiations that are underway. That was barely mentioned. That is sort of a snob to U.S. officials who are leading that effort and working hard to make it happen.

MACFARLANE: Yes, to your point, what he didn't say was that there would be any indication that Israel would be looking to sign a ceasefire deal soon. We know that he is going to go on to have meetings with President Biden, with Vice President Kamala Harris. I mean, what are the hopes now for him to even, you know, compromise on this issue?

ABDELAZIZ: Take a step back and just think of the three figures he's going to meet in the next 48 hours. Harris, Trump, Biden. Those are three very different meetings with three very different views.

I mean, the tightrope he has to walk. Biden, who's on the way out. A lame duck president. 50-year relationship with Israel. The cornerstone of his foreign policy, in some ways, has been this really close relationship with Israel, this really tight friendship with Netanyahu. He is focused, Biden is focused on his legacy, on trying to see that negotiation, that ceasefire come true. But he has only a matter of months.

Then, of course, he's also meeting with Kamala Harris. She could be president in a matter of months, but we don't really know her position. She's just been in lockstep with Biden. What vision will she present?

And finally, a meeting with Trump on Friday at Mar-a-Lago. We know what President Trump's position has been in the past on Israel. He could be a staunch supporter. Is Netanyahu running the clock, waiting for what happens in a matter of months?

I mean, look at the diplomatic balancing act he has in the next 48 hours.

FOSTER: I'll be asking you all about it after those meetings, Salma.

MACFARLANE: He is a master for playing for time, isn't he? Salma Abdulaziz, thank you.

Now, just a few days into her campaign, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris is already dealing with pointed attacks, including one that she isn't fit to lead the country because she doesn't have biological children.

Remember this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH), U.S. REPUBLICAN VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: We're effectively run in this country via the Democrats, via our corporate oligarchs, by a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they've made.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Well, one of the people coming to Harris's defense is Kirsten Emhoff, the mother of Harris's two stepchildren.

[04:40:00]

She denounced those comments.

Saying quote: These are baseless attacks for over 10 years since Cole and Ella were teenagers, Kamala has been a co-parent with Doug and I. She's loving, nurturing, fiercely protective and always present. I love our blended family and I'm grateful to have her in it.

MACFARLANE: Well, Sunlen Serfaty has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE U.S. (D) AND U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I've had a lot of titles over my career and certainly vice president will be great, but Mamala will always be the one that means the most.

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a title vice president Kamala Harris is proud of.

HARRIS: Family is our beautiful children, Cole and Ella, who call me Mamala.

SERFATY (voice-over): But now that she has been elevated to the top of the ticket, that title, stepmother, is again in the spotlight.

HARRIS: My family means everything to me.

SERFATY (voice-over): With some conservatives suggesting she should not be president because she does not have biological children. Really simple, under-discussed reason why Kamala Harris shouldn't be president. No children, a conservative lawyer who worked on Ron DeSantis' campaign wrote this week on social media, adding, and no, becoming a step-parent to older teenagers doesn't count.

That echoes similar comments made by now Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance in 2021.

VANCE: We're effectively run in this country via the Democrats, via our corporate oligarchs by a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they've made.

SERFATY (voice-over): Which are being resurfaced anew as he and his running mate Donald Trump seek to define Harris for voters. VANCE: It's just a basic fact. You look at Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg, AOC, the entire future of the Democrats is controlled by people without children. And how does it make any sense that we've turned our country over to people who don't really have a direct stake in it?

SERFATY (voice-over): Harris does have children, two adult stepchildren, Cole and Ella, who were 19 and 15 when she married Doug Emhoff in 2014.

HARRIS: We have a very modern family.

SERFATY (voice-over): Their blended family, she has joked, is almost a little too functional, which she credits to the close friendship she has with Emhoff's first wife, whom she calls an incredible mother.

HARRIS: One of the keys to my relationship with Cole and Ella is their mom.

SERFATY (voice-over): Ella Emhoff says their family dynamics work. They are really a unit, like a three-person parenting squad. It's really cool, creating a modern political family.

HARRIS: The thing about blended families, if everyone approaches it in the way that there's plenty of love to share, then it works.

SERFATY: And Kirsten Emhoff has been a defender of Harris in the past with numerous posts on social media about her campaign. But this statement feels significant that she is the one being put forward by the campaign to defend their blended family as Kamala Harris faces questions over her motherhood.

Sunlen Serfaty, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: A developing story out of California. The Park Fire in Butte County has burned more than 6,000 acres, according to Cal Fire, with 0 percent containment. Fire crews say the blaze is spreading rapidly.

MACFARLANE: Mandatory evacuation orders are in effect throughout Butte County at this hour. This is the same area that was ravaged by the Camp Fire in 2018, which led to 42 deaths.

FOSTER: Police are facing an outcry here in the U.K., in Manchester, after officers were caught on video beating several men at the city's airport. We'll have the latest on the disturbing incident.

[04:45:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: Protesters gathered outside a police station in Manchester overnight after videos on social media showed officers beating people at the city's airport. A warning, the images are disturbing. MACFARLANE: They show police roughing up at least three men, including one who was kicked and stomped on while he was already on the ground. Police say they were attacked after responding to an assault which led to three officers being injured, four people were arrested, while one officer is now suspended from all duties.

FOSTER: CNN can't independently verify what led up to that incident, but it's adding to the outcry over the use of force by police here in the U.K.

MACFARLANE: Our Clare Sebastian has been following the story, joins us here. Clare, it's really hard to watch that. I mean, actually quite shocking when I first saw it this morning.

What's the backstory here? What prompted this to play out?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so police are providing, Greater Manchester Police are providing a little bit of the context. They said that there was an incident and a report of an assault at Greater Manchester Airport. We believe this happened on Tuesday.

They responded, three officers were apparently injured, including one female officer who had her nose broken. And that is what led to this incident that you see on the video there. Now, as you say, we can't independently verify it, but they are very much trying to get out in front of it.

They are providing that context, but they are not trying to justify it. Greater Manchester Police themselves are calling this truly shocking. They have, as you say now, suspended one officer from all duties. They initially just suspended him from active duties, and they have referred themselves for investigation to the U.K.'s police watchdog.

But look, this is a case, I think, of where videos have gone viral online, and that has escalated the situation on the ground. We then saw that protest at that police station in Rochdale, which is an area outside of Greater Manchester -- what's inside Greater Manchester, outside the city of Manchester, which has a very large Muslim population.

We don't know yet the identity or the religion of the men involved. We also don't know their condition. But Paul Waugh, who is the MP for Rochdale, he's come out and said that one of the men arrested was from Rochdale. He plans to meet with them today, so we may get more on that.

And Tell Mama U.K., which is a group here in the U.K. which tracks anti-Muslim attacks, has put out several tweets on this, and they say that clearly there needs to be some very serious community engagement by Greater Manchester Police to calm things down.

So that is what we see now, a real concerted effort from police, from local officials to try to engage with the community to diffuse these tensions. But obviously, as you say, this will raise questions in the U.K. about disproportionate force by police and about the potential for racism, which is a charge that has been levelled against British police forces, including specifically Greater Manchester Police.

FOSTER: Well, exactly. And that's what this plays into, that conversation about racism. So the context isn't just what led up to this, it's the context about how police have been behaving with minority groups, particularly, you know, in the Midlands and the North of England in recent years.

SEBASTIAN: Right, exactly. And Rochdale is an area with a large Muslim population. We've seen that play into politics very clearly in the U.K.

And I think, look, we don't know yet whether these men were Muslim. As I say, we're going to find out more details about that. But there have been reports in the past that have accused police, as I say, including Greater Manchester Police of institutional racism.

So this is going to face very serious scrutiny. And obviously, there are going to be calls, and there already are calls, for the new government to take this very seriously.

FOSTER: OK. Clare, thank you so much. We'll be right back.

[04:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It should be nothing but smooth sailing for --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hello. I'm anxiety. Where can I put my stuff?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A new emotion.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, I'm sorry. We wanted to make such a good first impression.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And what do you mean, we?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: For a film that reflects the emotions raging inside all of us, it's just hit another major milestone. Disney's "Pixar Inside Out 2" has just become the highest grossing animated movie of all time.

FOSTER: It passed $1 billion in ticket sales just 19 days after it was released.

(Taylor Swift performing)

I don't feel I should have to read the script saying it's Taylor Swift on her Eras Tour. I mean, anyone that doesn't know that hasn't been watching any sort of movie at all.

MACFARLANE: Yes, but fans might not know that here in London, the items from all of her different Eras, things like guitars, costumes, dresses, customized cowboy boots that she wore at the beginning of her career and the cardigan from the famous cardigan music video. Now, all of those 13 installations are at the Victoria and Albert Museum.

[04:55:00]

Here's how the curator described the first of its kind exhibit.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATE BAILEY, SENIOR CURATOR, THEATRE AND PERFORMANCE, VICTORIA AND ALBERT: So, these objects are from the Taylor Swift archive. So, it's been wonderful to borrow those and to see how they could work on display in the museum. So, it's a first and it's the first time we've done a trail in this way and it's the first time these objects have been seen in the U.K. So, it's incredibly exciting and it's free.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: There's a bit of a debate, of course, about how, at what point in your career do you qualify to be in the V&A because there's loads of historic figures. But the reality is that museums need to get people in as well. And she is an icon.

MACFARLANE: She is. And she has been around a long time.

FOSTER: Yes, yes.

MACFARLANE: It's not like she's just popped up in the last five years. I mean, there's a whole 20 -- what, two decades' worth of material here? And I think it's a great idea. I mean, frankly, I'm probably going to head down there myself.

FOSTER: I like the shirt. Is that the Taylor Swift shirt or was it a random shirt?

MACFARLANE: I'm not sure, but you'd rock it, Max, for sure.

FOSTER: Yes, totally.

MACFARLANE: Well, it begins, this exhibition, I believe, on Saturday 8th of September. I'll be taking my daughters.

FOSTER: Will you? If you can get tickets. I'm sure they're all sold out. Normally happens, doesn't it?

MACFARLANE: Yes. Elsewhere, the famous butter statue at the Ohio State Fair is taking a little inspiration from the upcoming Olympic Games. The traditional cow and calf are still there, but this year's sculpture depicts the nation's top athletes moooving.

FOSTER: Oh, please.

MACFARLANE: Thank you, to victory.

FOSTER: There's a track and field para-athlete, a gymnast, a cyclist. A high jumper. The display is made with about 2,000 pounds of butter and took about 450 hours to complete.

MACFARLANE: What do you do with it at the end of the Olympics?

FOSTER: Make a sandwich.

MACFARLANE: A lot of buttered toast, hey?

FOSTER: I mean, it's extraordinary.

MACFARLANE: Well, I mean, kudos to them. I would never have even thought of that as an idea.

FOSTER: No, to have the idea. And then the craft.

MACFARLANE: People are very -- people are very excited.

FOSTER: Thanks for joining us. I'm Max Foster.

MACFARLANE: And I'm Christina Macfarlane. CNN "THIS MORNING" is up next after this quick break.

[05:00:00]