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CNN International: Hamas Calls For Prayers & Day of Anger Over Assassination; Nasrallah: Killing Of Hezbollah Commander Crosses "Red Lines"; Three Americans Freed In Prisoner Exchange Return To U.S. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired August 02, 2024 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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ZAIN ASHER, HOST, "CNN NEWSROOM": Hello, and welcome to viewers around the world. I'm Zain Asher.
Ahead on CNN Newsroom, tensions rising further in the Middle East as high-profile killings of powerful militant leaders have led to vows of retaliation from Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah. We are live for you in Tel Aviv and Beirut with the very latest. Plus, an emotional homecoming, we'll look at what's next for those Americans freed in the historic prisoner swap, now back on U.S. soil. And a new U.S. jobs report sparks fears, the economy is slowing too quickly, potentially triggering a recession.
All right, we begin with funeral prayers and furious calls for revenge.
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Words of sorrow, gateway to really angry chants, as mourners gathered at a mosque in Doha today for the funeral of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh. He and his bodyguards were killed in what Tehran and Hamas say was an Israeli hit in Tehran just two days ago. Haniyeh was killed by an explosive device planted months in advance in the guesthouse where he stayed in Tehran. Israel will not confirm or deny any involvement in this, but its military is on high alert and says it is prepared for any scenario. Haniyeh's death along with the Israeli killings of a Hezbollah commander in Beirut and a Hamas military chief in Gaza are raising fears of an all-out regional war.
Hezbollah's chief suggests a coordinated attack on Israel could becoming. And Iran's Supreme Leader says he considers it Iran's duty to avenge Haniyeh's death. The U.S. says it heard that message loud and clear. It says it's prepared to move resources to the region to counter the threat. President Biden also suggested the assassination of Haniyeh, who had been representing Hamas in ceasefire talks, may have hurt the chances of a truce in Gaza.
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JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We have a basis for a ceasefire. He should move on it, and they should move on it now.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is that a chance for a ceasefire ruined after the assassination of Haniyeh?
BIDEN: I has not helped.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: All right. We're joined live now by CNN's Clarissa Ward, joining us from Tel Aviv. We've also got Ben Wedeman in Beirut.
Clarissa, let me start with you, because the Israelis have also apparently killed Mohammed al-Jabari, who was in charge of weapons production for Palestinian Islamic Jihad, in addition to those two leaders of Hamas, and also the Hezbollah commander. Clarissa, as you and I both know, when you have these sort of high-profile figurehead targets, when they are eliminated, they end up getting replaced. So, just walk us through what Israel's long-term strategy here is.
CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I can't be exactly sure what the long-term strategy here is, Zain. The short-term strategy seems to be to prepare for what everyone is concluding is an all but imminent attack, either from Iran directly or potentially in conjunction with Iran's various other proxies around the region, the so-called Axis of Resistance. We have seen a hospital here in Tel Aviv that has cleared out one of their underground parking lots to make room to treat patients should there be some kind of a strike, should there be some kind of a power outage.
The municipality of Jerusalem has told people that they should make sure to clean and prepare their shelters, that they will only have 90 seconds to reach those shelters should sirens start to wail. And a supermarket chain called Victory has said that supplies have gone up -- or sales have gone up by 30 percent, particularly canned goods, toilet paper. So, there is definitely a sense that preparations are underway.
I also spoke to an Israeli security official who says, we do expect a response. We are doing everything we can and we are prepared for whatever response may come. This official also added that the Secretary of Defense here, Yoav Gallant, had just gotten off the phone with the U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin for the third time this week. Also, the British Secretary of Defense was here in Israel to meet with Gallant.
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And so, there is a sense that Israel is trying to get its allies on board to try to work out the mechanisms of what the defense would look like, somewhat potentially complicating this if you compare it to the April Iran attack when 300 projectiles were launched towards Israel, and where Jordan and Saudi Arabia had played some kind of a role in the defense, is whether any Arab countries would, in these circumstances, come to the aid of Israel, given the highly provocative nature, Zain, of these high-profile assassinations.
ASHER: All right. Clarissa Ward live for us there, thank you so much.
All right. Ben Wedeman, let me bring you in now. As Clarissa was saying, there was a lot of preparations that Israelis are making for the worst case scenario, and they do have good reason to prepare, especially when you consider what the head of Hezbollah has been saying, this idea that the war is moving into a new phase and that, of course, retaliation, as we suspected, is inevitable at this point.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Oh, yes. What we've heard from a variety of directions, from Iran, Hamas and elsewhere, is that retaliation is inevitable. Now, so far today, we've seen a resumption of the exchanges of fire on the border between Israel and Lebanon, four Hezbollah strikes so far on Israeli positions, a variety of Israeli airstrikes and drone strikes along the Lebanese side of the border. Now, yesterday, Hezbollah came out to mourn the killing by Israel of a senior military commander, and we did hear Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, vowing to strike back.
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WEDEMAN (voice-over): Hezbollah's painful big farewell to a man who lived by the sword and died by the sword. An Israeli drone strike killed Fuad Shukr Tuesday evening in Beirut. He was the most senior military leader of the group to be assassinated by Israel since hostilities broke out in October. The killing was a serious blow, but one that may not deter the Iran-backed group.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This message, take it to the world, if you kill a leader, every kid is a leader. You got the answer you're searching for? We are undefeatable. We are Hezbollah. Full stop.
WEDEMAN (voice-over): Israel claims Shukr was involved in the rocket strike that killed 12 Druze children and injured dozens last Saturday in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Addressing the crowd, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah denied his group was behind that strike, and warned Israel by killing such a top-level Hezbollah commander in just hours later, it's believed. Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, it had gone too far. You don't realize the red lines you've crossed and what kind of aggression you've undertaken, he said. You don't know where you're heading.
After the speech, thousands paraded through Beirut's southern suburbs, some carrying the red flag of revenge. Nasrallah, this man told me, will respond and he will take revenge on behalf of the entire Muslim world, and not perhaps just against Israel.
WEDEMAN: We heard from Hassan Nasrallah, the Secretary General of Hezbollah, is that some sort of response is inevitable, not only against Israel, but those behind Israel, presumably, the United States.
WEDEMAN (voice-over): After 10 months of war in Gaza, and intensifying clashes between Israel and Hezbollah, the threat of something much worse has never been greater.
(END VIDEOTAPE) WEDEMAN: And of course, people here have been expecting something much worse, pretty much going back to October. So, it got to the point where many Lebanese had the attitude of you only live once and you might as well enjoy life while you can, but this time, it seems far more serious than previous instances where it looked like the region was on the verge of a massive war. So, we are seeing that, for instance, it's getting very difficult to book flights out of Beirut. There are cancellations. I had a friend today who spent hours trying to get him and his family on a flight out of this city as quickly as possible. Zain.
ASHER: Yeah. That's a really good anecdote, just to tell you sort of what people on the ground there in Beirut are going through.
Ben Wedeman live for us there, thank you so much.
All right. A hero's welcome, as three Americans took their first steps on U.S. soil since being released from Russian prisons.
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U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris first in line for a moment. That comes after months of complex negotiations. President Biden says this prisoner exchange would not have happened without the help of America's international allies.
Nada Bashir has the details on last night's very emotional reunions.
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NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTER (voice-over): Home at last, landing at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, the long-awaited return of three Americans detained in Russia, now finally a reality. Former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, and Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, seen here being welcomed by cheers, before an emotional reunion with his mother, all smiles, as he greets fellow journalists. For President Biden, this was an historic feat of diplomacy.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did you think that this moment would come, sir?
BIDEN: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What made you feel so confident?
BIDEN: My relationship with other heads of state that I had --
BASHIR (voice-over): Their return comes as part of a carefully brokered exchange, the largest prisoner swap, according to the U.S, since the Cold War, secured in coordination with Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway and Turkey. Among the 16 U.S. and European nationals released from detention in Russia, prominent Putin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza, a British national and permanent U.S. resident, heard here speaking to his children who joined the President in a call from the Oval Office.
VLADIMIR KARA-MURZA, RELEASED FROM RUSSIAN PRISONER UNDER PRSONER SWAP: I was sure I'm going to die in prison. I don't believe what's happening. I still think it's a -- I feel like I'm sleeping in prison cell in Omsk.
BASHIR (voice-over): Not all American nationals held in Russia, however, were released. The family of Marc Fogel, who worked in Russia as a teacher and was arrested on drug charges in 2021, have expressed their disappointment.
ANNE FOGEL, SISTER OF MARC FOGEL, AMERICAN HELD IN RUSSIA: It's been a roller coaster. No sleep. I feel like we've been kind of collectively stabbed in the back.
BASHIR (voice-over): In an emotional statement, U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said all Americans wrongfully detained remain a priority.
JAKE SULLIVAN, U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR: Today was very good day. And we're going to build on it, drawing inspiration and continued courage from it for all of those who are held hostage or wrongfully detained around the world.
BASHIR (voice-over): As part of the exchange, eight Russian nationals, including convicted killers and spies, were also returned to Moscow, sparking concern that the deal could strengthen Russia's hand and even encourage other adversaries to arbitrarily detained foreign nationals as bargaining chips. But, such criticisms have been rejected by Biden --
BIDEN: Everybody.
BASHIR (voice-over): -- and for those who have anxiously waited for the return of their loved ones, including Evan's Wall Street Journal colleagues, who campaigned for months for his release. This is a moment of celebration.
Nada Bashir, CNN, London.
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ASHER: CNN's Rosa Flores is standing by for us in San Antonio, Texas. I want to bring in first, though, Priscilla Alvarez, who is live for us at the White House. So, Priscilla, you and I spoke about this yesterday as the prisoners -- or the former prisoners, I should say, were on their way back to the U.S., and what we've learned, and we knew before, but we really learned from President Biden's press conference was really just how important President Biden's personal relationships with allies around the world, particularly in Europe, were in terms of actually brokering this deal. Talk us through that.
PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The reason for that too was because the U.S. found itself in a position, over the course of these painstaking negotiations, where they essentially had to find Russians that Russia wanted return in exchange for releasing these Americans. And so, the U.S. had to work with Germany, who had someone had a close tie to Russian President Vladimir Putin and was serving a life sentence in prison, Slovenia, who had two Russian nationals, to try to see if they were willing to turn over those Russian nationals so that they could secure the release of these Americans, among others.
And so, the President leaned on his relationships with the Chancellor of Germany, the Prime Minister of Slovenia, to make that happen in phone calls and meetings with them. The President having a call with the German Chancellor in January, a meeting in February, the Vice President also doing much of the same.
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And so, the President ever since then and over the course of the last 24 hours has really been reflecting on the importance of these alliances, and even going so far as to say yesterday evening that it was the toughest call, not just for the U.S., but for allies. The Vice President also weighing in and looking and underscoring the stakes of the election through the lens of foreign policy. Take a listen.
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KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE U.S., (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Over many years, President Biden and I and our team have engaged in complex, diplomatic negotiations to bring these wrongfully detained Americans home. We never stopped fighting for their release. And today, in spite of all of their suffering, it gives me great comfort to know that their ordeal is finally over.
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ALVAREZ: And it was this speed of diplomacy, as the President put it, that led to that remarkable moment on the tarmac in Joint Base Andrews last night, just after 11:30 Eastern, where those Americans were able to disembark, be embraced and greeted by the President and Vice President and then later with their families, before going on to San Antonio for their checks. But, the feeling at the White House yesterday and today has been a sense of relief and joy, but also an acknowledgement that more needs to be done for people like Marc Fogel, who remain in Russia detained.
ASHER: Yeah. His sister speaking out there, saying that this is -- obviously, she is happy for the Americans that did get released, but this is really sort of sad news because obviously her brother has been left behind.
Priscilla Alvarez, we have to leave it there. Thank you so much.
Let's turn now to Rosa Flores, who joins us live now from San Antonio, Texas. So, Rosa, just in terms of what happens next, the focus is, of course, on the reintegration process. They are going to be undergoing a physical, mental, emotional evaluation, especially when you think about what they have been through. But, just walk us through what that moment was like, that remarkable moment of them landing in Texas. I understand that you spoke with Paul Whelan. ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I did and it was a very emotional moment as well, because we witnessed, as these freed Americans walked and exited out of that airplane with their families, they mingled for a little bit, Zain, with State Department officials. And then they learned that they would be escorted, in essence, to the facility that you see behind me.
But, I did take a few moments and asked Paul Whelan a few questions, including asking him to describe this moment, because we're all watching it. We're all watching this amazing video of their encounter with family, and he says that it was not real to him, like, nothing felt real to him until he was flying over Great Britain and he looked down and saw British soil and that that's when it hit him. He, of course, is also a British citizen. And he says, at that point, he knew he was coming home.
And you've witnessed that marvelous welcome that he described as a great homecoming. The President of the United States, Joe Biden, was waiting for him, embraced him, so was Vice President Kamala Harris, and of course his sister. He described how nice it was to hug a sister for the very first time in years. And he also took a moment to criticize the Russian government. Take a listen.
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PAUL WHELAN, U.S. MARINE VETERAN FREED IN PRISONER SWAP WITH RUSSIA: I went on a two-week vacation. The FSB grabbed me, said I was a spy. I'm apparently a general in the Army, a secret agent for DIA. This is the nonsense narrative they came up with, and they just -- they wouldn't let it go.
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FLORES: And Zain, he also wanted to thank everyone around the world who has been praying for him, who has been sending him letters. He shared that he received thousands of letters while he was in prison in Russia. And of course, as you know, he spent more than five years there in detention, and he was just so grateful for that support, saying that it meant a lot to him. Zain.
ASHER: Yeah. Gosh. God knows what he has been through over the past five years.
Rosa Flores live for us there, thank you so much.
All right. On the Russian side of this exchange, the Kremlin says the children of now freed Russian spies learned their true nationality en route to Moscow. The boys' and girls' parents are Russian spies Artem Dultsev and Anna Dultseva. The Kremlin says they were living undercover in Slovenia and that they did not know about their Russian identity until the plane took off from Turkey on Thursday. Russian President Vladimir Putin greeted them in Spanish, since the children do not speak Russian.
All right. Still to come, as her campaign announces what it calls a history-making fundraising haul, the race to be Kamala Harris' running mate enters its final hours. We'll break it down live with our panel. Plus, the latest U.S. jobs report is out, and it is raising some concerns. Our Matt Egan will have the numbers for you and explain what they all mean. Stay with us.
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ASHER: All right. Let's take a look now, all eyes right now on the Dow. You can see that it has really plummeted, down about 1,000 points or so, pretty much after a weaker than expected jobs report for today. The jobs report coming in at 114,000 jobs added. That is significantly less than what had been anticipated. 175,000 had been anticipated. A lot of questions about what this means in terms of the health of the U.S. economy, what this means in terms of the potential for a September rate cut. Investors, as you can see there by how the Dow is doing, are extremely nervous right now. But, a lot of people are also saying that, look, one bad jobs report doesn't necessarily mean there was going to be a recession.
I want to bring in CNN's Matt Egan to break this down for us. So, Matt, just walk us through the reaction, the numbers. I mean, this obviously wasn't a great jobs report. But, explain to us why the sort of dramatic reaction in terms of the red we're seeing on the screen.
MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Yeah, a very negative reaction, for sure. You see the Dow is down almost 1,000 points, 2.4 percent, at session lows, as we speak. And look, this July jobs report was weak. It was probably the last thing that we needed, because coming into the report, investors are already starting to get worried about the health of the economy, about cracks emerging in the jobs market. And we can see from that chart. I mean, clearly, job growth has slowed. 114,000 jobs added. That is the second slowest since late 2020. The unemployment rate went up to 4.3 percent. That is the highest level in almost three years. It had been ticking higher, and now it's moving even more so in that direction.
If there was one bright spot, it would be wages. Paychecks are still growing. It's cooling off, but they're still growing at pretty healthy pace and they're getting bigger, faster than prices are. So, that's good for consumers.
I think that all of these numbers, when you put them together with some of the recent indicators that came out, it does raise questions about what the Federal Reserve has done, because remember, the Fed could have cut interest rates earlier this week, and they opted not to, right? They sent strong signals that a rate cut is probably coming in September, but they weren't prepared to move just yet. And I think the market is starting to worry that maybe they're late here, just like how they were in in 2021 to start raising interest rates in response to inflation, maybe they're acting too slow here in response to this emerging weakness.
I think the truth is, it's too early to say, right? We just don't know yet if this is a growth scare or something more ominous like a potential recession. I talked to Moody's Analytics Chief Economist Mark Zandi earlier, and he told me he still thinks the odds are that we avoid a recession.
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But, he acknowledged that the risks are rising and he said it could end up being a closer call than we thought just a few weeks ago, and that is why we're seeing the financial markets start to price in not just an interest rate cut at the next meeting in September, but a half a percentage point cut. There was a low chance, about a one in four chance of a 50 basis point cut at the next meeting in September before today's report, and that has jumped up significantly because investors are starting to believe that maybe the Fed is going to have to come to the rescue to prevent this slowdown in the jobs market from becoming something even worse. Zain.
ASHER: Right. And I think you touched on a few important points, but one in particular is that investors are digesting a lot of pieces of data right now, including earnings from Big Tech, including the Federal Reserve's July policy meetings. It's not just about the jobs report today. But, are you saying that, essentially, yes, of course, investors are nervous, but a recession isn't inevitable at this point in time?
EGAN: Absolutely. It's not inevitable. I mean, I think if this were a movie, right, and we saw this July jobs report as one scene in the movie, it could end either way. The movie could end in a recession or it could end in a soft landing. Both possibilities are still out there. And we knew all along, Fed Chair Jerome Powell, he warned that hiking interest rates to the magnitude that they had to do to fight inflation was always going to cause pain in the jobs market. And the surprising thing was that the pain had been relatively minimal up to this point, right? The jobs market had been so resilient.
And so, if we look back and say that 4.3 percent unemployment is the worst of it, well, I think that would end up being fantastic news. We just don't know yet. And there are a lot of moving pieces. You mentioned the tech part of it. The NASDAQ is down almost three. Intel alone has lost more than a quarter of its value today. The chipmaker announced job cuts, a dividend haul, worse than expected earnings.
And so, that is part of the story to hear, is investors are digesting some disappointing earnings. They're trying to make sense of what's going on in the AI boom, and what the Fed is going to do next and how they're going to respond here. So, there is a lot of moving pieces. But, I do think, clearly, the nervousness in the market has picked up in just the last 24 hours.
ASHER: All right. Matt Egan live for us there, thank you so much.
EGAN: Thanks, Zain.
ASHER: All right. Eye-popping fundraising numbers announced in the past few hours. Kamala Harris' presidential campaign says it raked in a monstrous $310 million in July, more than double what Donald Trump's team pulled in. Trump's political operation raised $138.7 million last month, and now has $27 million in cash reserves. Harris' cash reserves are at $377 million.
Meantime, a number of Kamala Harris final vice presidential contenders are canceling their events ahead of her highly-anticipated VP announcement. And then, there is J.B. Pritzker cracking this joke when asked about his weekend plans.
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J.B. PRITZKER, GOVERNOR, ILLINOIS: Lollapalooza is happening this weekend here in Chicago and my kids and I mean, tens of thousands of others are going to be there. I've heard other governors talk about how they've canceled their weekend plans. I was going to perform, of course, with Blink-182 --
ARI MELBER, MSNBC HOST, THE BEAT: Oh great.
PRITZKER: -- on Sunday, but I cancelled in order to clear my schedule.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: Meantime, Donald Trump says he is not weird, and neither is J.D. Vance, after Kamala Harris and other Democratic leaders trotted out the "W" word to describe the GOP duo.
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VOICE OF DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Nobody's ever called me weird. I'm a lot of things but weird I'm not. And I'm upfront. And he's not either, I will tell you, JD is not at all. They are. It's all a soundbite, and the press picks it up. You notice the evening news, every one of them is talking, you know, they introduced the word weird, and all of a sudden, they're talking about weird. No, we're not weird people. We're actually just the opposite.
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ASHER: Not weird. We're actually just the opposite. We'll talk about all things weird in just a moment.
But, joining us live now to discuss all things weird and everything else is Seung Min Kim, White House Reporter for the Associated Press. Seung Min, thank you so much for being with us. So, before I get to how Democrats are now branding Republicans in terms of the whole sort of weird thing, I do want to talk about Kamala Harris' vice presidential pick. A lot of people are saying it could be Shapiro. A lot of people are saying it could be Kelly, who is a smart money on. Which candidate do you think will give her the biggest boost come November?
SEUNG MIN KIM, WHITE HOUSE REPORTER, ASSOCIATED PRESS, & CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, the smart money right now is on those two names that you just mentioned, because right now, they're seeing kind of as the frontrunners in the small pool of people who are actually being vetted by Kamala Harris' team and who would be expected to undergo interviews in the coming days, in the next couple of days. And it really depends on what you think Harris needs for the ticket.
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Obviously, both Josh Shapiro and Mark Kelly represent swing states that are critical to that pathway for victory for Democrats this fall. Pennsylvania, though, has just been a hotly contested swing state. I think that this was -- that was going to be the linchpin to the victory, whether it was President Biden at the top of the ticket or Kamala Harris. Josh Shapiro has astronomically high approval ratings for a governor in a swing state. These numbers are hard to see. But, there are a lot of people who have -- a lot of people out there who are fans of Mark Kelly. They feel like his sort of being able to balance border security issues and immigration in a border state could help neutralize a lot of the political attacks that Vice President Harris has faced on the border, on immigration, over the years of her presidency.
And Arizona is also a critical swing state as well. They went for Biden and Harris in 2020. And it's a state that they're certainly trying to keep in their column again. So -- but, I think what ultimately matters most beyond who can help you win is who Kamala Harris can gel with. I mean, if she is President, this is someone she is going to be have to be dealing with very, very closely for four years. And that report really does matter to a President when he or she is picking as proposed number two.
ASHER: I actually want to bring in Andrew Desiderio, Senior Congressional Reporter for Punchbowl News. So, Andrew, just in terms of -- since we are talking about vice presidential picks, just in terms of J.D. Vance, obviously, he has had a very, very rocky rollout in terms of some of the most controversial comments that he has made resurfacing. Is the worst of it over for him? And obviously this weekend, the world's attention is really going to be on the vice presidential pick that Kamala Harris makes. So, he is going to be able to get some kind of respite, some kind of breather in terms of news coverage.
ANDREW DESIDERIO, SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER, PUNCHBOWL NEWS: Right. J.D. Vance is a historically unpopular running mate choice when you look at just sort of the history of the bump that the presidential candidate at the top of the ticket usually gets, in addition to the fact that the person they choose is usually someone who is a more likable and popular figure. We haven't seen that, according to the polling data at least, when it comes to J.D. Vance. And when Donald Trump picked J.D. Vance, this was not an 'expand the tent' pick. This was not a choice intended necessarily to expand the electoral map and to compete in states where Donald Trump might otherwise not be able to compete.
Now, some Republicans do tell me that they think J.D. Vance can be helpful in some of the Rust Belt states, which I think is definitely valid. But, a lot of the rationale behind Donald Trump's pick of J.D. Vance was that they have a good relationship, number one, but number two, he is a loyalist to Donald Trump, right? In 2016, Donald Trump picking Mike Pence, that was a pick intended to not only expand the tent, but also to reassure Republicans and independent voters who were on the fence about Donald Trump in terms of voting for him in 2016. So, you really see the contrast there. And as you mentioned, all the focus over the next week or so is going to be on Vice President Harris' choice to be her running mate, and of course, they're doing this multi-state tour starting in Philadelphia on Tuesday.
ASHER: Seung Min, let me just play, I'm sure you've watched it multiple times by now, Trump appearing at NABJ earlier this week. Let's roll out one particular standout moment, and we'll speak on the back of it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I didn't know she was black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn black and now she wants to be known as black. So, I don't know. Is she Indian or is she black?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: Here is the thing. Donald Trump has been saying -- making racist comments, to be honest with you, since he came down that escalator in 2015. And in the 2016 election, it didn't actually hurt him. He actually won despite all of the very offensive things that he said. Are things different this time, Seung Min?
KIM: I mean, I don't know. And I think that -- I mean, it was well before the escalator in 2015. I mean, he kind of -- Donald Trump kind of grew in prominence in the political sense because he questioned the birthplace of Barack Obama, the nation's first black President. And I think that right now, how Kamala Harris is responding to this has been a really interesting observation. She clearly has responded to those very ugly comments that the former President made at the convention earlier this week, saying this is just kind of more of his divisive rhetoric that we do not need in this country, and that she kind of tries to elevate herself and be above it and not kind of engage and get into these uglier fights that she does not want to litigate or campaign on.
She knows she is a historic figure. She is a historic figure now. She would be a historic figure if she was elected as President.
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But, she is really trying at the same time that she is trying to make sure that those comments from Donald Trump do not go unaddressed, that she is still focused -- she still focuses very much on the issues that she wants to talk about, which is democracy, which is reproductive rights, economic issues. And that's just -- that balancing act, I think, from Vice President Harris over the next several months, because I don't think this will be the end of these --
ASHER: Right.
KIM: -- kind of ugly comments from President Trump and his supporters, how she deals with that will be really interesting to watch in the coming months.
ASHER: Yeah. You're right. This goes way back in terms of questioning whether Barack Obama was American enough to now questioning whether Kamala Harris --
KIM: Right.
ASHER: -- is black enough. And yes, her MO seems to be the Michelle Obama when they go low, when you go high. Guys, we do have to leave it there, unfortunately. I am out of time. We'll have you on soon, though. Thank you both so much.
All right. Coming up, a federal judge will soon regain control of Donald Trump's election interference case. Details ahead on what could happen before the November election. Plus, outrage over the death of two Al Jazeera journalists in an attack by Israel. We'll have a live report for you on that as well.
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ASHER: All right. Welcome back. You are watching CNN Newsroom. I'm Zain Asher in New York.
We are getting reaction now to the deaths of two Al Jazeera journalists in Gaza. The group 'Reporters Without Borders' says it is quote "outraged by the deadly attack." Ismail al-Ghoul and Rami Al- Rifi were killed in an Israeli airstrike on Wednesday. Israel's military alleges that al-Ghoul was a member of Hamas' military wing, and quote "participated in the October 7 attack." No evidence of that, though. Al Jazeera denied what it called baseless allegations. It says quote, "This latest attack on Al Jazeera journalists as part of a systematic targeting campaign against the network's journalists and their families since October 2023."
Joining us live now is CNN's Jomana Karadsheh. So, this allegation by Israel that al-Ghoul, one of those journalists, was actually a member of Hamas' military wing that he participated in October 7. Has the IDF provided any evidence of that at all?
JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Simply, it has not yet, Zain, and we have asked them for evidence. They have not provided that. This is something also Al Jazeera is saying. And as the world's attention has been focused on these major developments in the Middle East over the past few days, the major assassinations that took place, and the repercussions of that, the Israeli military killed these two Al Jazeera journalists who had been out that day, reporting throughout the day from the Al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza, outside the house of what used to be the house of Hamas' leader Ismail Haniyeh, reporting on the news of his assassination.
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They got in their car, and as they left, their car was hit by a missile. Ismail al-Ghoul is a well-known journalist for many in the Arabic speaking world who have followed his reporting since the war in Gaza began nearly 10 months ago, and he is someone who has sacrificed so much to continue to cover the horrors that are unfolding inside Gaza. He has not seen his two-year-old daughter in nearly 10 months, we are told. And this is the story of so many of the Palestinian journalists who continue to be our eyes and ears on the ground as we, the international media, have not been allowed to independently access Gaza to report on the war by the Israelis.
And so, you look at this incident. And what the IDF is saying, Zain, is that he was a member of the elite force of the Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas that he participated in October 7, although they don't say that he had any combat role. They say that he instructed other members to record operations against the Israeli military. Again, so far, they've not provided evidence of that. What you have Al Jazeera saying is that this is completely baseless and that it is only a deliberate attempt, they say, by the -- it is an attempt by the Israeli military to justify what they call the deliberate targeting and killing of their journalists, five journalists killed so far.
And it's very important to point out here as well, Zain, is that Al Jazeera, and we also reported on this back in March, al-Ghoul was detained by the Israelis and later released. So, there are many questions here, although they never confirmed that at the time, many questions about whether if this is true, if they have this evidence, why was he released, and why did it take more than 24 hours for the Israeli military to release the statement after the killing of the journalists and really raising a lot of questions about the extra judicial nature of this?
ASHER: All right. Jomana Karadsheh live for us there. You raised some important points and questions. Thank you so much.
All right. Still to come, U.S. track star Sha'Carri Richardson's role -- -- rolled -- road to goal, excuse me, begins today, as she makes her Olympic debut. We are live for you from Paris with much more ahead.
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ASHER: A big day is on tap, as Team USA looks to add to their medal count at the Paris Olympics. The U.S. has had the most medals of any country so far, 41 and counting. But, it's China that currently leads with the most medals, at 13. USA and Great Britain not far behind, with nine.
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Looking to close the gap, American Sha'Carri Richardson makes her Olympic debut on the track today, starring in the women's 100 meter heats. And Caeleb Dressel is back in the pool, going for gold in the 50-meter freestyle.
Joining us live from Paris now is CNN World Sport's Coy Wire. I understand that Sha'Carri Richardson, she did an amazing job during her heat. She has got her finals and semifinals coming up.
COY WIRE, CNN WORLD SPORT: Yes, she does, and I cannot wait to see that action. She is going to be going against Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce from Jamaica. We'll get to that in a minute.
But, first, we have to talk about the hometown hero here, Zain. Leon Marchand back in the pool tonight in the 200-meter individual medley, the heavy favorite becoming one of the stars of these games. He has already won three goals at just 22-years-old. He won the 400 IM, and then he became the first man to win two individual swimming goals on the same day in 48 years, when he won the 200 breast and free. The French (inaudible) now is going to be looking to make more history here in Paris.
You mentioned Caeleb Dressel. Also tonight, it's time for that splash and dash, Zain, the race to become the fastest man in the pool on the planet. USA's Superman looking to defend his title in the 50-meter free, claim a ninth career Olympic gold. With one more, he would tie Carl Lewis and Mark Spitz for the second most by any American Olympian, behind Michael Phelps.
I asked Caeleb what these games are like now, that he is a dad, with him and his wife Meghan recently welcoming their baby boy, August. Listen.
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CAELEB DRESSEL, 8-TIME GOLD MEDALIST FOR USA: I can't imagine my life before August was here of what I was doing. So, yeah, it's very, very different. Yeah, pretty much all I have time for is him and swimming. But, I don't really want to be doing anything else. I'm earlier bedtimes for myself. More naps. It's strange to think of what was I doing before this, and I don't really want to be doing anything else now. So, yeah, it's pretty much just have time for those two things at the moment.
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WIRE: All right. Finally, the fastest woman on the planet race is on. America's Sha'Carri Richardson and Jamaica's Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce headlining the sprint. Richardson crushed her opening 100-meter heat. She is 24-years-old. After being suspended for the Tokyo Games due to a positive test for THC, the reigning world champion is looking for redemption, and Fraser-Pryce sprinting in her fifth straight Olympic Games. Her nickname is Mommy Rocket, 37-years-old. It's going to be awesome to watch, Zain.
ASHER: Oh my gosh, I can't wait, her, and I'm really excited. My kids also really excited about Noah Lyles. My boys love him so much.
All right. Coy Wire live for us there. Thank you so much.
WIRE: You got it.
ASHER: All right. Next, we are getting word of a new severe weather warning for the southeastern part of the United States. Derek Van Dam can tell us more. Derek.
DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yeah. That's right, Zain. National Hurricane Center just issuing tropical storm warnings and watches along the Florida peninsula. Plus, our ongoing heat continues to bake the central U.S. I'll have all the details coming up after a break.
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ASHER: All right. With less than 100 days to go before the U.S. election, a U.S. federal judge will consider the fate of Donald Trump's historic criminal case. The federal election interference case is set to be transferred back to the lower courts today and into the hands of Judge Tanya Chutkan. This comes one month after the Supreme Court issued a game-changing ruling on presidential power. One of Judge Chutkan's crucial decision includes whether Donald Trump's efforts to undo the 2020 election results counts as official acts.
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I want to bring in CNN Senior Justice Correspondent Evan Perez from our Washington, D.C. bureau. So, now that it's back in her hands, I mean, she does have a lot of important decisions to make, and this is, of course, coming less than 100 days before the U.S. elections.
EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR U.S. JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: That's right. We have about 94 days, in fact, before the election, Zain. And the crucial question for the judge is, how quickly she can get things restarted? Now, you'll remember, of course, that the Supreme Court a month ago ruled that the former President enjoys a broad set of immunity for official acts. The question is, whether some of the activities he took, some of the actions that he took and didn't take in those days around January 6 and in the days after the 2020 election, whether those classify as official acts or whether they do not. And so, that is really what this turns on. And really at any moment we could hear from this judge how she wants to proceed.
Now, what she can do is order a new set of hearings. She can ask for briefings from the Justice Department, from the Special Counsel Jack Smith, and from the Trump team on how to proceed. We know for a fact that she has always moved very quickly on these cases -- on this case, in particular, the question is, whether she can try to move this quickly, now that it is back in her hands, Zain.
ASHER: All right. Evan Perez live for us there. Thank you.
Extreme heat is blanketing much of the U.S. The oppressive temperatures are hitting the Mid-Atlantic, northeast, southeast, and Southern Plains today, coupled with heat alerts in the west. More than 100 million Americans are impacted. Tropical Storm watches and warnings have been issued for parts of Florida as well because of a tropical disturbance near eastern Cuba.
CNN Meteorologist Derek Van Dam joins us live now. Oh boy, because I normally --
DAM: Yeah. Here we are.
ASHER: -- I normally like the heat. But, let me tell you, in New York yesterday, it was unbearable. It was unbearable. And then you have 130 million Americans who are under --
DAM: Yeah.
ASHER: -- heat advisory. You've also got the wildfires. Take us there, Derek.
DAM: So much. And now, this newly issued tropical storm warning to contend with for the weekend. So, if you have travel plans to Florida, double check those plans because things are changing and evolving quite rapidly, especially if you're in southwest Florida, Naples, Fort Myers to Tampa, even Miami. This is the area, not inclusive of Miami, by the way, but that shading of yellow, that's a tropical storm watch. The blue is tropical storm warning. So, basically, Naples south. And then again a tropical storm watch, meaning conditions are favorable for tropical storm activity and tropical storm gusts within the next 48 hours northward towards Tampa Bay.
Here is that tropical disturbance that Zain mentioned just a moment ago. It's traversing basically the spine of Cuba right now, the mountainous terrain here. So, there is a lot of disorganization. But, it is going to get its act together once it finally decides to exit the nation of Cuba and enter the Florida straits. There is a lot of warm water, record-high temperatures on the ocean surface right here, even below the surface as well. So, that should give it some opportunity to strengthen.
And you can see the first track from the National Hurricane Center. It shows an intensifying tropical storm, as it makes landfall sometime midday on Sunday over the western central portions of Florida, traverses the Florida peninsula and then reemergence into the Atlantic Ocean by early parts of next week. Where it goes from there? Still a little bit uncertain. Could it strengthen? Yeah. There is a lot of warm water over there as well. So, something we're going to monitor very closely. Nonetheless, it will likely become Tropical Storm Debby, as it approaches Florida here this weekend.
Here is the spaghetti models. This is the various forecast track possibilities. That's why you see the cone basically into Central Florida. And here is the evolution with one particular model kind of timing it out for you Sunday midday. You can see more or less an approaching landfalling storm, and then into the Atlantic. This is where it skirts the coastal areas of the Carolinas and that'll bring heavy rainfall and the potential for localized flash flooding and even tropical storm force or stronger wind gusts.
Now, Zain talked about how oppressive he'd spend in New York to D.C. Yeah, it's going to continue today, 130 million Americans with these heat alerts. But, this is very interesting. According to Climate Central, nearly half of the U.S. population today is experiencing heat that is made more likely by climate change. So, that includes much of the Intermountain West and the East Coast as well. And you can see why with temperatures like this. You factor in the humidity, Zain. You know what it's all about. It is just downright hot.
ASHER: It's hot, as I experienced yesterday, and I'm dreading going outside after work today. We'll see. I hope it is better.
DAM: I know what you mean. ASHER: OK. Derek Van Dam live for us. Thank you. All right. Before we
go, one more thing.
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Popstar Britney Spears is heading to the big screen.
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The Britney Spears memoir, "The Woman In Me", is being developed as a movie by Universal. "Crazy Rich Asians" director Jon M. Chu has been tapped to direct the film. Spears has confirmed the big news on Thursday in a post on the platform X. "The Woman In Me" was published back in 2023, actually just last year, and tells her life story from the singer's own perspective.
All right. That does it for us. Thank you so much for spending part of your day with me. I'm Zain Asher in New York. Stick with CNN. I'll have much more news on One World after this short break.
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