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Harris to Interview VP Finalists; Trump Backs out of Debate; U.S. Sends Forces to Middle East; U.S. Calls Multination Prisoner Swap a "Human Victory"; Freed U.S. Citizens in Post-Isolation Program in Texas; U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin Revokes Plea Deal with 9/11 Mastermind; Algerian Boxer Imane Khelif Controversy; Paris Olympics Highlights; Bangladeshi Protesters Demand Resignation of Prime Minister; Florida West Coast Braces for Storm. Aired 5-6a ET

Aired August 03, 2024 - 05:00   ET

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

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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Welcome to all you watching us here in the United States, Canada and around the world, I'm Kim Brunhuber.

This is CNN NEWSROOM.

Former U.S. president Donald Trump says he's pulling out of the ABC presidential debate and instead plans to face off against Vice President Harris on FOX News. This development comes as Harris clinches enough votes to secure the Democratic nomination.

The U.S. is sending more military forces to the Middle East as Israel braces for a possible retaliation from Iran.

And new concerns for the U.S. economy as stocks take a tumble.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from Atlanta, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Kim Brunhuber.

BRUNHUBER: We begin with several new developments in the U.S. presidential race. Donald Trump says the ABC News presidential debate is off and he wants a FOX News debate instead.

Kamala Harris meanwhile, is headed into a pivotal weekend of final candidate interviews as she prepares to choose a running mate.

Now all comes after Harris formally earned enough delegate votes to clinch the Democratic nomination, a historic first. We have more details now on all those developments, beginning with CNN's Sunlen Serfaty in Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAIME HARRISON, CHAIRMAN, DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE: I am so proud to confirm that Vice President Harris has earned more than a majority of votes from all convention delegates.

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The DNC announcing Friday that Vice President Kamala Harris has won enough votes from Democratic delegates to become the party's nominee for president.

KAMALA HARRIS, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT AND U.S. PRESIDENTIAL DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE: I will officially accept your nomination next week. Once the virtual voting period is closed but already, I'm happy to know that we have enough delegates to secure the nomination.

SERFATY (voice-over): And Harris is closing in on one of the most consequential decisions of her political career as she is set to debut her running mate on Tuesday in Philadelphia.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Will you be in Philadelphia on Tuesday by chance?

GOV. JOSH SHAPIRO (D-PA): I hope to be, yes.

SERFATY (voice-over): Sources tell CNN that Harris has not made a decision yet but is scheduled to meet with top finalists over the weekend with most expected to be in person.

Those set to meet with Harris include Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker.

Some contenders shifting their schedules as Harris nears a decision.

PETE BUTTIGIEG, U.S. TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: You know, every day we have to tweak the schedule a little bit because things come up, calls and meetings that we have to take of.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Could you explain what those are?

BUTTIGIEG: No.

SERFATY (voice-over): Others joking about fellow hopefuls clearing their calendars.

GOV. JB PRITZKER (D-IL): Lollapalooza is happening this weekend here in Chicago. You know, I've heard other governors talk about how they've cancelled their weekend plans. I was going to perform, of course, with Blink 182 on Sunday but I've cancelled in order to clear my schedule.

SERFATY (voice-over): The meeting's poised to play a critical role in her selection process. Sources tell CNN Harris is looking for a running mate that she gets along with personally and will not be a distraction.

But her top consideration is electability, assessing which contender will help most with independents and swing voters, especially in the battleground states.

SHAPIRO: I got a message to Donald Trump.

[04:15:00]

Stop (INAUDIBLE) talking America. This is the greatest country on the face of the Earth.

SERFATY (voice-over): Shapiro, Walz and Kelly are seen as the top contenders with Beshear also being looked out closely. Shapiro and Kelly hailing from key battleground states.

SEN. MARK KELLY (D-AZ): This is not about me. You know, this is about Donald Trump. And what a sad figure he has become.

SERFATY: The vice president is spending her weekend here in Washington at her home at the U.S. Naval Observatory. And sources tell CNN that these face-to-face meetings, they are absolutely critical to her decision-making process ahead.

And certainly, there could be additional candidates added to her schedule throughout the weekend, a critical few days ahead as she works toward making that big decision by Tuesday -- Sunlen Serfaty, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Donald Trump says he's backing out of the ABC debate he previously agreed to when Joe Biden was the presumptive Democratic nominee. Now the Republican nominee says he has agreed to participate in a debate moderated by FOX News instead.

[05:05:03]

According to Trump, the new debate would be hosted in Pennsylvania on September 4th with a live audience. It's unclear whether Kamala Harris has accepted the invitation from FOX News. The Harris campaign didn't immediately respond to CNN's request for comment.

Meanwhile, Trump and Vance are heading to a key battleground state this weekend, they will appear together in a rally here in Atlanta, Georgia, today. Over three high-profile Georgia Republicans won't attend, including state governor Brian Kemp.

The event will take place in the same venue where Vice President Kamala Harris addressed a packed crowd last Tuesday.

Trump's campaign has been forced to rework some of its electoral strategy since President Biden stepped aside. The dynamics of the race could shift again, based on who Kamala Harris chooses as a running mate. And Team Trump is paying attention. CNN's Kristen Holmes has that.

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KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: President Donald Trump may be saying what he has always said, that a vice presidential candidate doesn't matter. But that doesn't mean that he's not watching very closely what Kamala Harris decides.

He was actually asked about this in an interview that aired on Friday.

Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: If she picks Shapiro, she's going to lose the Palestinian vote.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Obviously questions about what exactly he means by a Palestinian base. But notably there, he only goes after governor Josh Shapiro. This is something we have seen from the campaign. We even heard vice-presidential nominee JD Vance saying that Josh Shapiro talked like Obama.

It's unclear what kind of criticism was there but it was something that he was clearly saying as some sort of insult. But it is interesting that they've homed in on Shapiro, particularly given the importance of the state that he represents.

He's obviously the governor of Pennsylvania, a critical battleground state. But the other part of this, that he is widely popular in that state. This is another state met like many of the battleground states, in which Donald Trump's team was feeling incredibly confident, going into their race with Joe Biden.

But now the calculus has all shifted. And, again, this is clearly on their radar. Moving forward, they'll be watching this weekend -- Kristen Holmes, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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BRUNHUBER: And joining me now from Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, is Kyle Kopko. He is a political science professor at Elizabethtown College and he is the co-author of the book, "Do Running Mates Matter? The Influence of Vice Presidential Candidates in Presidential Elections."

Thanks so much for joining us here. So we've heard Donald Trump minimizing the importance of his own running mate with the comments that JD Vance will not have an impact on the 2024 White House race.

And JD Vance said in response, he kind of downplayed his own relevance.

Are they right in purely electoral terms?

Do running mates matter?

Literally, the title of your book.

PROF. KYLE KOPKO, ELIZABETHTOWN COLLEGE: Well, thanks so much for having me.

In short, they do matter but it's often overstated. Trump isn't too far off the mark in his observations. So we do a deep dive into this. In our book, my co-author, Chris Devine at the University of Dayton, and I, we estimate hundreds of statistical models using a wide range of voter databases, dating back decades.

And what we find is really three key things.

First of all, a running mate is unlikely to deliver their home state. So a battleground state and I know there's a lot of speculation about that every presidential election.

And we also find little evidence that running mates generally deliver a key voting bloc of voters.

But where they can really make a difference is how they influence perceptions of the presidential candidate. That's the really key thing here. Selecting a running mate sends an important signal. It sends information to voters about what the presidential candidate's priorities and objectives are.

So that, probably the most important way a running mate matters.

BRUNHUBER: But your own research suggests that the Kamala Harris, in terms of delivering voter blocs, is kind of the exception that proves the rule, right?

At least in 2020.

KOPKO: That's right.

Whenever we dug into this for the 2020 campaign, we did find evidence that Harris was more popular among African American voters and, in particular, African American women voters. But the effect was relatively small.

So that's not to diminish her effect at all. But the point being is, in the forthcoming research that we used here for this particular analysis, we found that Democratic, particularly African American voters, women voters, African American women voters were statistically more likely to favor the Democratic ticket in 2020.

So the marginal return for that bloc of voters was relatively small but it was there in the statistical analysis.

BRUNHUBER: Yes. And then obviously in a tight race, these things could make all the difference. So as we heard in the clip earlier, the Trump campaign in targeting Pennsylvania's Josh Shapiro.

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A popular swing state governor you are -- where you are right now in Pennsylvania. So your research suggests basically, I guess, that if Harris -- if the Harris campaign is hoping for a big boost in that massively important state, they could be disappointed. Is that right?

KOPKO: That's true. What we find over time is that there really isn't a lot of evidence to suggest that home state candidates, at least vice presidential candidates, deliver an electoral advantage.

The opposite is true for presidential candidates. There is evidence that presidential candidates performed better in their home states than other states. And I think you have to think about it this way.

Whenever voters go to the polls, they're generally voting for the President of the United States. That is the candidate at the top of the ticket. That's the candidate that has the most power.

While the vice president is part of the ticket, research shows that they are not nearly as influential. Evaluations of presidential candidates matter at least three times more than that of vice presidential candidates.

So hypothetically, in order for a vice presidential candidate to really make a tremendous difference, they would have to be exceptionally popular, particularly in their home state.

And we just don't see that happening very often.

Now is it possible theoretically?

Yes but we just haven't seen that in past elections very often.

BRUNHUBER: So if the choice of a running mate says something about the presidential candidate themselves, I want to flip this now to Donald Trump's running mate, JD Vance.

I mean, he hasn't had a great start, fair to say, making a bunch of comments that the campaign have admitted aren't helpful -- "crazy cat ladies" comes to mind.

So does that matter, do you think?

I mean, if the vice president helps to shape perceptions about the presidential candidate, I don't imagine too many Trump voters will care too much about a little more controversy, will they?

KOPKO: Probably not.

I think by selecting JD Vance, the Trump campaign was really looking for someone that would support Donald Trump's policies and be lockstep with him on those issues.

Now obviously, there's a lot of coverage about past controversial statements that JD Vance made, particularly being critical of Donald Trump before Vance was elected to the United States Senate.

But at least in the past few years -- and certainly on the campaign trail -- there hasn't been a lot of daylight between these two individuals. I think that appears to be an important consideration in selecting Vance.

BRUNHUBER: Yes.

But you don't think with all the trouble he's been in that he could get replaced?

I mean, that's pretty fairly unprecedented.

KOPKO: It's probably unlikely. Now it's not unheard of. This actually happened in the 1972 presidential election.

Some viewers may remember that Thomas Eagleton was forced to step aside as the vice presidential nominee that year after reports surfaced that he received electroshock treatment and was battling a variety of mental health issues. Obviously, that was a different time but it's not unprecedented in the modern era.

BRUNHUBER: All right, we shall see as we await Kamala Harris' vice presidential pick, interesting to consider all the information that you gave us there.

Kyle Kopko, thank you so much.

KOPKO: Thank you very much for having me.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Well, the U.S. is flexing its military muscle in the Middle East, which is on edge over fears that Iran could retaliate against Israel. The White House is sending a Naval strike group led by the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln.

That's after Iran vowed to attack Israel following the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran this week. Israel is neither confirming nor denying involvement but the White House says Iran's threat should be taken seriously.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADM. JOHN KIRBY (RET), COORDINATOR FOR STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS AT THE NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL: We have heard the supreme leader loud and clear that he intends to avenge this killing of a Hamas leader in Tehran and that they want to conduct another attack on Israel.

We can't just assume that we aren't also potentially going to be victims of that kind of an attack. So we've got to make sure we've got the right resources and capabilities in the region.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Meanwhile, Haniyeh was buried in Qatar on Friday after a funeral procession attended by thousands. Prayers were held for him in several countries and anti Israel rallies broke out after the ceremony.

All right, we have CNN's Salma Abdelaziz, standing by in London. But first we go to Ben Wedeman, who's in Beirut.

So Ben, with the tensions ratcheting up so high, what is the current situation and the reaction there?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Certainly people are very concerned that, this time, after 10 months of sort of up and down tensions, at this time, actually, it could get very bad.

Now this morning, there was an Israeli drone strike on a car about 16 kilometers or 10 miles north of the border, with Israel killing one and injuring several others.

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Now we don't know what the target was. But yesterday we saw the usual back-and-forth between Hezbollah and Israel, largely restricted to the border area, which is basically the routine down there.

But the other day Hassan Nasrallah, the secretary general of Hezbollah, did say, that his group will respond to the killing of Fuad Shukr here in Beirut. And it's not a question of when, it's rather if. It's just a question of when.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HASSAN NASRALLAH, SECRETARY GENERAL, HEZBOLLAH (through translator): We are not saying we are reserving the right to respond. We will respond. This is definite.

The enemy and those behind her enemy should wait for our definite response.

There is no discussion or debate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WEDEMAN: When he refers to those behind the enemy, I think he's clearly referring to the United States, which is deploying an extra carrier group to the region.

It's also deploying destroyers and cruisers to the region with the ability to provide ballistic missile defense.

So certainly the United States, which was unable to restrain Israel when it comes to, for instance, the killing, we believe, of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, it's working through its friends in the region, Qatar and others, to try to call on Israel -- rather, Iran to practice restraint.

Now we did see a tweet from the Iranian embassy here in Beirut saying, whoever lays a hand on this country, Lebanon, that hand will be cut.

BRUNHUBER: All right, stern warning there.

Ben Wedeman. Thank you so much.

I want to go now to Salma Abdelaziz in London.

So Salma, obviously, Israel bracing for an expected attack.

What more can you tell us?

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. And Israeli citizens are being told and reminded of their local bomb shelters. We've also understood that from some grocery stores across the country, people are stocking up.

And people are truly afraid and worried and they are angry. Kim, that's what's important to remember here. Prime minister Netanyahu is under pressure, not just from the international community but from within.

Domestically, there was huge demonstrations last week, demanding that he take a ceasefire deal, demanding he bring the hostages just home.

Meanwhile, prime minister Netanyahu only seems to be aggravating tensions with this series of assassinations that have further pushed the proxies around the region have instigated Iran to vow this retaliation.

But what will that retaliation look like?

That's what you hear from our colleague, Ben, what U.S. officials are preparing for because it does not have to come. This response does not have to come directly from Tehran.

Iran could easily activate its tentacles around the region and then you have that retaliation coming from Iraq or Syria or Yemen and that means U.S. assets on the ground, potentially threatened; U.S. troops, potentially threatened.

You'll remember at the beginning of the year, there was three U.S. service members killed along the Jordan-Syria border. We had this huge barrage of missiles and rockets that were fired by Iran in April.

That's the response that they may expect in this time but it could be wider, just as I mentioned. And all of that only escalates and grows the scope of this conflict.

You might ask me, well, how do we calm it down?

How does the temperature cool?

There's very little hope or option for that right now, Kim. Of course, when the chief mediator, the chief negotiator for Palestinians, Ismail Haniyeh, his assassination is what has triggered this escalation in the first place -- Kim.

BRUNHUBER: All right. Salma Abdelaziz in London. Thank you so much.

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BRUNHUBER: Now to breaking news. At least 32 people are dead and another 63 injured after an attack at a beachside restaurant in the Somali capital of Mogadishu. That's according to Somali state media.

The militant group, Al-Shabaab, is claiming responsibility for the attack, saying they were targeting Somali officials and officers, according to one intelligence group. State media say six members of the Somali militant group targeted the restaurant using a suicide bomb.

The news agency says, security forces, quote, "neutralized" five of the attackers but it's not clear if a sixth was also killed.

All right. Still ahead, three U.S. citizens are walking free now after a historic prisoner swap with Moscow. But American teacher Marc Fogel is still being held by Russia. President Biden gives an update on efforts to bring him home -- next.

And adjusting to ordinary life, the freed Americans are getting acclimated to the U.S. again, thanks to special government programs for former hostages and prisoners. We'll have details on that next. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: The White House is celebrating the arrival of three U.S. citizens back on American soil after being wrongfully detained in Russia.

But on Friday, President Biden was asked about another American still being held by Moscow.

QUESTION: Marc Fogel, the Pennsylvania teacher, still sitting in a Russian prison, what would you tell his family?

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're not giving up. We're not giving up on that.

QUESTION: What more can you do?

What more can you do?

BIDEN: You want me to tell you ahead of time so he doesn t get out?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: now that message comes on the heels of a major prisoner swap involving the U.S., Russia and five other countries. Americans Paul Whelan, Evan Gershkovich and Alsu Kurmasheva were released by Moscow as part of that deal.

President Biden and Vice President Harris greeted them when they arrived at Joint Base Andrews late Thursday night. The three U.S. citizens freed from Russian custody are beginning their

second day in an Army medical center in Texas and a government program to help them readjust to being back home. CNN's Rosa Flores is in San Antonio with the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You've probably seen the emotional videos of the freed Americans embracing their family members, sometimes for the first time in years.

[05:25:02]

And what you don't see is the trauma, the emotional scars from the detention and the isolation.

And that's one of the reasons why they're here in San Antonio, Texas.

And look, their treatment started shortly after they landed in Kelly Field. We were there, our cameras were rolling. We witnessed as the freed Americans exited the plane with their families.

And shortly thereafter, members of the State Department and the White House told them that they were handing them over to a U.S. Army colonel, who explained that they would be transported to the facility that you see behind me, which is Brooke Army Medical Center.

And there was also a group of psychologists that explained to them that their priority would be their well-being and process that with me for just a moment, because in some instances, these freed Americans had been detained for years in Russia. And the priority of Russian authorities was not the well-being of these Americans.

But this is how they were welcomed here in Texas, with that news that they were going to be taken care of.

The other thing that they learned is that that the time with their family was also going to be integrated in their treatments. So not only would they be evaluated medically but they would also have some family time.

We asked Paul Whelan about that family time and here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL WHELAN, FORMER RUSSIAN PRISONER: So looking forward to seeing my family down here and just recuperating from five years, seven months and five days of just absolute nonsense by the Russian government.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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FLORES (voice-over): Take a look at this video. These freed Americans know that they're not alone. They held a hostage and wrongful detainee flag. And then at one point, Paul Whelan pointed to the last three bars on that flag and said, "Those are the three Americans that had just made it back on American soil."

Rosa Flores, CNN, San Antonio, Texas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: The man accused of being the mastermind behind the September 11th terrorist attacks could now face the death penalty after a surprising turnaround from the U.S. Defense Secretary. We have details coming up.

And troubling new jobs numbers trigger a rough finish to the week on Wall Street. That's raising new concerns about the state of the U.S. economy just ahead of the election. Details coming up, stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all you watching us here in the United States, Canada and around the world, I'm Kim Brunhuber.

This is CNN NEWSROOM.

In an abrupt turnabout, the U.S. Defense Secretary is putting the death penalty back on the table for the man accused of masterminding the September 11, 2001, terror attacks. Lloyd Austin pulled the plug on a plea deal more than two years in the making. Oren Liebermann explains why and what could happen next.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: In a surprise move quietly announced on Friday evening, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin wrote in a memo that he was revoking the plea deals that had been reached in the case of the alleged mastermind of 9/11 and two of his alleged coconspirators.

The memo was incredibly short and abrupt, only three lines long. Take a look. You can see the entirety of it on your screen right now.

In it, Austin wrote that it was his authority alone to enter into a plea agreement like this and that he had revoked the plea agreements announced only two days earlier as well as relieving of authority the person in charge of reaching those agreements.

The agreements themselves had been in the works for at least 2.5 years. So it can't have been a surprise to the Pentagon and the White House that these discussions were ongoing.

We reported on it as well as other media outlets that there was an effort to reach the plea deal. And the deal itself was viewed as a bit of a victory in the case of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed or more commonly known as KSM and two of his alleged coconspirators.

And that's because the cases against them were so long and complex, delayed over more than a decade, and there were significant legal questions about whether evidence can be admitted that had been obtained from KSM under torture that made these incredibly difficult and complicated cases.

In the plea deals KSM and his two alleged coconspirators agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy charges as well as all of the other charges they faced in exchange for a life sentence.

The death penalty had been taken off the table. And that is why it received significant bipartisan backlash as well as ferocious backlash from the families of the victims here.

Now the question is, where does this go from here?

Austin wrote in that memo, the authority is his alone. So it's now up to the military prosecutors who had been looking at this case for so long, who had seen it delayed so long, where this goes from here in what promised to have been a very lengthy and complicated case -- Oren Liebermann, CNN, at the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Tough economic figures are causing new concerns on Wall Street.

A disappointing jobs report sent stocks tumbling on Friday. The Dow closed out with a 612 point loss just days after the Fed suggested inflation has slowed enough for rate cuts to begin in September. Earlier in Friday's session, the Dow had dropped more than 900 points.

The S&P 500 finished the day down nearly 2 percent and the Nasdaq fell 2.4 percent. All this as new figures revealed the U.S. economy added just 114,000 jobs in July, which is far below economists' estimates of 175,000. The nation's unemployment rate rose from 4.1 percent to 4.3 percent.

An Algerian boxer is fighting a torrent of online abuse as she competes at the Olympic Games. Her gender is being called into question by prominent figures like Donald Trump, Elon Musk and JK Rowling. And her accomplishments in the ring are being overshadowed by misinformation. Melissa Bell sets the facts straight in this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was a quick win for Algerian boxer Imane Khelif, defeating Italian opponent

Angela Carini after only 46 seconds in the ring. Khelif's powerful opening barrage of blows left Carini in pain, retreating to her corner and

withdrawing from the fight. But there continues to be a backlash over the victory, with some critics questioning whether Khelif should have been allowed to compete in that ring

at all and claiming that Khelif is a man or transgender, something IOC officials have emphatically denied.

MARK ADAMS, SPOKESPERSON, IOC: The Algerian boxer was born female, was registered female, lived her life as a female, boxed as a female, has a

female passport. This is not a transgender case.

[05:35:00]

BELL (voice-over): The controversy over Khelif's gender has been fueled in part by her disqualification from the 2023 World Boxing Championships,

after the International Boxing Association says she and another boxer failed an unspecified gender eligibility test. But the IOC cleared Khelif

and the other athlete to fight in the Paris Games, casting doubt on the test that was previously used by the IBA, which was stripped of its

recognition as the official boxing body for the games by the IOC for corruption and financially related issues.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said she didn't think the fight between Khelif and Carini seemed fair and raised her concerns with the IOC.

GIORGIA MELONI, ITALIAN PRIME MINISTER (through translator): I think that athletes who have, let's say, male genetic characteristics should not be

allowed to compete in women's competitions and not because we want to discriminate against anyone but to protect the right of female athletes to

be able to compete on equal terms.

BELL (voice-over): And some spectators say they wish that the IOC had done more to head off a potential backlash before the fight began.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm sure it was hard for her to decide to compete when she knew she was going to be getting a lot of criticism. I wish her all the

best and I know everyone has their own opinions. So I mean, the Italian is entitled to forfeit.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's an important topic and it has to be addressed. And I find it unfortunate it wasn't addressed before the competition. And therefore, it's a bit tragic for both parties.

BELL (voice-over): Carini since said that she's sorry for not shaking Khelif's hand after the match and that she respects the IOC's decision to

allow her to compete. But the IOC says there's been a wave of online abuse against Khelif that's ongoing and rooted in misinformation.

BELL: The other boxer who fell foul of the International Boxing Association's eligibility rules last year at the world championships in New

Delhi is Lin Yu Ting, the Taiwanese boxer who here in Paris this Friday, took on an Uzbek opponent winning all three of her rounds.

BELL (voice-over): The IOC has strongly supported both Khelif and Lin's right to compete and says that it's in close contact with both athletes.

Khelif will get her next shot in the ring on Saturday when she faces the Hungarian Anna Luca Hamori -- Melissa Bell, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Today's competitions at the Summer Olympic Games in Paris are already off to a winning start for some.

So here's the medal count so far.

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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Host nation France just picked up another silver medal in the women's 25 meter pistol final. South Korea won gold and Hungary went home with bronze.

France and Australia are still tied with 11 gold medals each. But China is the one to beat, still leading the pack with the most gold medals. Team U.S. still leads the pack with the most medals overall.

BRUNHUBER: All right, for more on what we can expect from today's events, I'm joined now by CNN sports analyst Christine Brennan, live in Paris.

Christine, not a bad day, not a bad competition so far for the host country, right?

CHRISTINE BRENNAN, CNN SPORTS ANALYST: Oh. That's right, Kim, I've been at this swimming pool. And I've got to tell you, the sound level, the decibels; my watch has actually gone off, saying it's too loud.

And that is all for Leon Marchand, who won his fourth gold medal, 4 for 4, intense pressure, the weight of a nation on his shoulders. And he did it. And it was majestic and he celebrated as you would expect he would, each time just jumping out of the pool, standing there, a man in triumph. He has exceeded all expectations. It has been an absolute, absolutely terrific week for Marchand, who of

course, trained at Arizona State and now is in Texas. So maybe the U.S. will claim him a little bit. too. But he is all France's.

And when we hear the cheers, the singing, "La Marseillaise," it has been an absolute delight for all of us journalists to experience what we've seen and experienced at the pool because of the greatness of this young man.

BRUNHUBER: Let's look ahead to today; two of the U.S. top athletes with a chance to add to their medal haul, right?

BRENNAN: That's right.

Well, Simone Biles, of course, has already had a great Olympics. Right now it's a total slam dunk. But she's got more. She's got the individual events. Now starting out, I would expect that she could win maybe three more gold medals out of those four.

They come over the next few days. So expect to see Simone Biles' name in the headline. She will -- she will definitely be winning more gold. Already, of course, just the greatest ever. And having won -- helped the U.S. to win the team competition and then winning that individual all-around the other day.

And then Katie Ledecky, I think I've mentioned it before, they were born three days apart in March of 1997. What a great week in American sports that was, even though we didn't know it back then. Katie Ledecky will be in her final race. It is the 800 freestyle. She won it in 2012 as a 15-year old, 2016 and 2021.

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If she wins here tonight -- and I'll be there covering it and she's got a tough race. The Australian Ariarne Titmus is right there with her.

But if Katie Ledecky is able to hold off Titmus and anyone else, Paige Madden, one of her teammates as well and wins the fourth straight gold in the 800 freestyle, she will be only the second person to ever do that in swimming.

The great Michael Phelps went four for four as well in one of his races, the 400 IM. But Katie Ledecky will join incredible company and also with the ninth gold medal would be the most decorated female Olympic athlete ever, any sport, any country.

BRUNHUBER: Just amazing.

And then finally, before we go, I don't want to let you go before we talk a little bit about soccer, my favorite sport. U.S. women also taking the field today, right?

BRENNAN: That's right, against Japan, who, Japan -- for those who remember, beat the U.S. in the women's World Cup in 2011. And this is a new look for the U.S. team. As you know, some of the veterans, Alex Morgan is not on this team; new coach, knew attitude. They're playing very well.

Lots of pressure on the U.S. to come back with and win a gold or a medal, at least, after the disappointment at last year's women's World Cup. So we'll see how they go against a tough opponent that they know very, very well, in Japan.

BRUNHUBER: Interesting. All right, we will be watching. Christine Brennan in Paris. Thanks again.

BRENNAN: Thank you.

BRUNHUBER: There's one Olympic activity open to everyone, collecting and trading pins from the Games. Crowds of collectors turned out on Friday to participate in what some call an official Olympic sport. The Olympics website says the tradition dates back to the first modern games in 1896, when athletes wore cardboard badges.

Nearly 130 years later, the variety of pins includes national teams, sporting federations, sponsors and more. One U.S. trader says you never know what's going to be popular and one of this year's hottest items, a Snoop Dogg pin.

Los Angeles Lakers are honoring their fallen star player, Kobe Bryant, with the second of three statues outside the team's home arena, the Staples Center. The statue shows the two-time Olympic gold medalist hugging his daughter while cradling between the wings of an angel.

Bryant, Gianna and seven others died in a helicopter crash in 2020. Bryant's widow, Vanessa, says, the last statue in the series would show the Black Mamba donning his number 24 uniform.

All right, still to come, unrest spreads across northeast England in the wake of Monday's fatal stabbing of three children. The latest on the violent protests just ahead.

And president Nicolas Maduro's government is pushing back against the international fallout following Venezuela's contested presidential election. All that and more when we come back, stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: Police are describing the latest protests in Sunderland, England, as completely unacceptable. Eight people were arrested and three police officers were injured Friday. The unrest comes amid rampant misinformation about the suspect in a deadly stabbing attack last Monday.

Three young girls were killed and eight other children injured. Police say the teenage suspect was born in Wales and isn't an immigrant. Multiple demonstrations are planned for this weekend, including anti- immigration protests and anti-racism counterprotests.

In Bangladesh, thousands of protesters took over the streets of its capital, Dhaka, on Friday. Demonstrators are demanding the resignation of the prime minister following UNICEF's latest report that at least 32 children were killed during protests last month.

Bangladesh has been going through turmoil in recent weeks as protests over a government job quota system and the police response to the protests claimed more than 150 lives. Demonstrators also demanding justice for those killed.

Venezuela is accusing the U.S. of what it calls a coup attempt following the country's contested presidential election. The U.S. rejects the claim but officials say it is clear that president Nicolas Maduro lost.

Now this as the opposition claims to have vote tally information that confirms Maduro's loss. Journalist Stefano Pozzebon has more.

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STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Venezuela is bracing for more protests Saturday as both the authoritarian government of Nicolas Maduro and the country's opposition have called for competitive rallies in Caracas as the results from last week's presidential election remain in the balance.

On Friday, electoral authorities released a new tally, giving the victory to Maduro with 51 percent of the vote. But they are yet to release any ballot papers to dismiss all the claim of illegalities.

The opposition, on the other hand, has released about 22,000 ballot papers, saying that, according to their own count, their candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez, has won with 71 percent of the vote.

On Friday, CNN's Mario Hernandez (ph) was able to ask Maduro about those documents. And this is what he had to say.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Speaking foreign language).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (OFF MIKE COMMENTS).

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POZZEBON: There's been many calls from the international community to release any ballot paper and to add transparency at the only way to resolve this disputed election. Meanwhile, the United States and several other Latin American countries have already recognized Gonzalez as the ultimate and legitimate winner of the election.

Something Maduro has said amounted to a coup. Gonzalez and the opposition leader, Maria Corina Machado, who is barred from running in the election, are currently in hiding after Maduro called for their detention -- for CNN, this is Stefano Pozzebon, Caracas. (END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Indigenous women in Peru are making their mark in the world of art. Artists in the neighborhood of Lima create murals to showcase their traditions and culture. The collective is made up of 12 women. Their murals typically feature geometric patterns that depict their vision of the world.

The women believe it's crucial to pass on traditions and share their culture to prevent them from being lost.

A hurricane watch has been issued for parts of Florida's Gulf Coast. When we come back, the latest forecast and what Floridians can expect as this tropical system inches closer. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: The National Hurricane Center has just issued a hurricane watch for parts of Florida's Gulf Coast. That comes as tropical depression number four is expected to enter the eastern Gulf of Mexico in the hours ahead and strengthen to become Tropical Storm Debby later today or tonight.

A tropical storm warning has now been extended northward to include Tampa Bay. Forecasts call for heavy rain and dangerous storm surge along Florida's west coast this weekend.

Governor Ron DeSantis has declared a state of emergency in 54 of the state's counties after the storm hitting the state.

Now a tropical depression is currently just off the coast of Cuba and has a maximum sustained winds of 30 miles per hour. That's according to the National Hurricane Center's latest update.

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BRUNHUBER: Seven defendants have been ordered to pay more than $4 billion to resolve lawsuits stemming from wildfires that devastated Maui last year. Hawaii's governor announced the settlement on Friday.

The courts still need to approve the payout, which will be divided among some 2,200 parties who filed lawsuits. Defendants include Hawaiian Electric, the State of Hawaii and Spectrum Charter Communications.

The fires killed more than 100 people and caused an estimated $6 billion in economic losses. Death Valley National Park in the western U.S. has been called the

hottest place on Earth. And it sure seemed that way last month, when it broke its own record for the hottest month ever.

The average temperature over a single day was 108.5 degrees Fahrenheit or 42.5 degrees Celsius. And that is fractionally hotter than the average in 2018.

And on one day last month, it reached a sizzling 129 degrees Fahrenheit at its aptly named Furnace Creek area. National Park Service reported one fatality during the month as rangers responded to multiple life-threatening heat related incidents.

New Yorkers are used to seeing pigeons overrun their city. But this one really seems to be ruling the roost. Have a look at this, a giant pigeon sculpture by artist Ivan Argote will perch atop the highline elevated park in October and stay there for 16 months.

Called "Dinosaur," it recognizes pigeons as the descendants of the prehistoric animals. The artist says the statue symbolizes all the New Yorkers who migrated to the city and now call the city their home, just like the pigeon, apparently brought to New York in the 17th century.

All right. That wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kim Brunhuber. For viewers in North America, "CNN THIS MORNING" is next. For the rest of the world, it's "AFRICAN VOICES: CHANGEMAKERS."