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Officials In Florida, Georgia Urge Residents To Prepare As Tropical Storm Debby Closes In; Kamala Harris Veepstakes Enter Critical Final Hours; Trump Tests New Lines Of Attack On Harris At Georgia Rally. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired August 04, 2024 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:21]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello again, everyone.

Thank you so much for joining me this Sunday. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

Our breaking news coverage of Tropical Storm Debby continues as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and state officials are expected to give an update later on this hour, we will bring that to you live when it happens.

Debby is expected to rapidly intensify into a Category One hurricane as early as tonight before making landfall tomorrow morning near the Big Bend region in of the state. There are lots of preparations underway.

Let's get right to meteorologist, Derek Van Dam, who is tracking the latest.

So what can we expect?

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, Fredricka, so we've got some new video into CNN that shows just how vulnerable that coastline on the western parts of Florida Peninsula actually is.

This is coming out of Captiva Island. Remember this is near Fort Myers Beach that was hit so hard back in September 2022 with Hurricane Ian now starting to see some coastal storm surge that's impacting businesses and homes within this area. Not a trend that we like to see. High tide was about 1:08 PM within this area, so the tide is starting to go down, but nonetheless, this just shows you the extent of this large storm that's starting to gain strength and also starting to become more organized.

Here is Fort Myers. Look at all the way to Tampa Bay. We could see three to five feet of storm surge with the greatest storm surge inundation right near that catcher's mitt, the Big Bend of Florida, six to ten feet above normally high ground.

So here's the details. Still a tropical storm, 65 mile per hour winds. It is starting to get more organized, meaning it is strengthening. In fact, our National Hurricane Center using the words rapidly strengthening here before landfall, and it will likely be a strong Category One hurricane as it makes landfall early Monday morning, right near this location, the Big Bend of Florida.

There is the radar, that shading of red is a tornado watch that is valid through 8:00 PM. It extends all the way into Southern Georgia. So spin up tornadoes, certainly a possibility as the system tries to get its act together.

Now, another concerning trend that we are noticing with this along with the tropical storm warnings that are in place and hurricane warnings, there is also tropical storm watches along the coastal Carolinas and Georgia as well. But that's not the only threat, it is going to be a heavy rain maker for this that could rival some record levels as it gets into the early parts of next week, it stalls, it loses its steering currents, nothing to push it on.

So when you get tropical storm feeding off of the Atlantic Ocean, and that is going to produce a lot of rainfall when it doesn't move very quickly over a long period of time, so 15 to 20 inches of rain, that's what some of our computer models are depicting. That means trouble for the low-lying areas of the Carolinas -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Oh boy. All right, thanks so much. Keep us posted, Derek Van Dam. Appreciate it.

All right, right now, in Washington, DC, a political nailbiter is playing out. Presumptive Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, conducting three more sit down interviews today with potential running mates.

Today, it is Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, and Arizona Senator Mark Kelly on the hot seat.

A source says that the Harris team is focusing on the competence, chemistry, and core values of the candidates.

CNN's Eva McKend is outside the US Naval Observatory, which is the residence of the vice president.

All right, Eva, so the choice is expected to be announced on Tuesday. Any clues about who the frontrunner might be?

EVAN MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, we have been monitoring the activity here at the main gate all day, not much going on, but a few hours ago, we did see a motorcade with Pennsylvania tags and was similar to the motorcade that accompanied Governor Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania when he left the state a few hours ago.

But we know, of course, Fred that Governor Shapiro, not the only one having a critical conversation today with the vice president. She is also having these running mate interviews with Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, as well as Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.

So what we've seen from Walz is a renewed focus on him, that is because his allies say that he does a good job of exciting key parts of the Democratic coalition, both progressives and centrists alike, and that he is proven to be a really skilled communicator and effective surrogate for Harris over the last week or so.

And Fred, this all comes as there is a new poll out today from CBS and it shows that Harris and former President Donald Trump are in a statistical tie. She is at 50 percent, he is at 49 percent. It just goes to show you how dramatic this content has changed in just a matter of weeks by the shake-up on the Democratic ticket.

[15:05:12]

WHITFIELD: Okay, and then Eva, you know, Trump and his surrogates continued to push these falsehoods about Harris not embracing her Black identity until recently. Harris surrogates are pushing back on course on that.

Tell me more about this back-and-forth or the willingness or not to engage.

MCKEND: You know, Fred, I think that many were surprised that he wanted to pick this argument in particular and what we are hearing from her allies is that she has a long history of both celebrating her Asian and Black identity. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. LAPHONZA BUTLER (D-CA): Look, this is an absolute distraction. It is an insult. It is despicable.

This is a woman who was born in Oakland, California who has declared and lived proudly her identity -- all of her identities. Now her entire life, embracing the totality of who she is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCKEND: And Fred, we will keep you updated with what we learned here from the residents. What I can tell you is that Harris is both considering a governing partner and someone that she believes can help her win key battleground states.

The announcement could come as soon as tomorrow. She will be on the campaign trail with her running mate beginning on Tuesday in Philadelphia -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Eva McKend, thank you so much.

Former President Trump and his running mate, JD Vance were in battleground Georgia this weekend. The Republican nominee spoke to a packed arena of supporters in Atlanta, the same venue, Vice President Harris spoke at last week.

Trump slammed her as phony and ridiculed the intelligence of the former California attorney general. He also continued to mock her name.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We are going to

defeat Crazy Kamala -- Kamala -- you know, there is about 19 different ways of saying, and she only likes three.

She was here a week ago, lots of empty seats, but the crowd she got was because she had entertainers.

By the way, I'd like to congratulate Vladimir Putin for having made yet another great deal.

She refuses to even say the words illegal, alien, or radical Islamic terrorists. She is considered more left-wing than crazy Bernie Sanders, look at her. She is worse than Bernie, and she happens to be really a low IQ individual.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Trump's next scheduled rally is set for Friday in Montana.

All right, much more packed campaign schedule is on tap for the presumptive Democratic candidate, Kamala Harris and her VP pick. They will launch a major swing state push starting in Philadelphia on Tuesday.

Former Democratic Congressman From Pennsylvania, Conor Lamb joining me right now with more.

Congressman, great to see you.

Pennsylvania, 19 electoral votes. It is considered a must win state. How do you see Harris's chances there?

CONOR LAMB, FORMER US REPRESENTATIVE: I think she has an excellent chance. She is coming in with a lot of energy and momentum, which is what it felt like the Democratic side was lacking a little bit earlier in the summer.

Pennsylvania is a state that gives candidates from both parties a fair chance. You know, in 2020 when Biden won, we elected two Republicans statewide on the exact same ballot. We have a lot of people that split their ticket and that tried to find that balance of sort of conservative values, but liberal government programs to correct injustices.

And I think she has an excellent chance based on her record as a prosecutor, but someone with a lot of compassion and also someone who's just younger and not as tiresome is Trump. I mean, in that clip you just played, I think people are sick of it. It is old and they want to move on.

WHITFIELD: Yes, I wonder what your, you know, kind of visceral responses after hearing kind of his string of his language, his thoughts while at his rally in Georgia? And do you believe that is a turnoff or is that something that entices, we know it entices his supporters, but does it entice any of voters who are still on the fence? LAMB: I don't think it helps him at all with people who are still on

the fence.

I think what he wants to do is try to provoke an overreaction on our side and to get our side focused on issues of identity instead of issues of economics and where Democrats are the most united both with ourselves and where we do our best reaching out to the middle as we are talking about jobs, when we are talking about the economic future of every family, of helping them afford, not just groceries, but the big ticket, things like college and their healthcare, and Trump knows that.

And so if we get -- if we are singing with one voice on those issues, the first thing he's going to do is try to provoke the controversy to get us away from that and so we just have to have that discipline not to let them do that.

[15:10:02]

WHITFIELD: As Harris considers her potential running mates, if Governor Josh Shapiro is a selection for her, does not in any way, I guess help secure her votes in Pennsylvania or do you think, that isn't what is at issue for Pennsylvania voters? They are not necessarily looking at the running mate, but they are looking at her.

LAMB: Well, I think it helps kind of uniquely this year because people have not had a lot of time to digest all of the changes that have taken place and they haven't had as much time to get to know Vice President Harris as they did President Biden.

So what Shapiro offers you in this state is someone that they know, comfortable with. I think of it like getting a cell phone call from a number you don't know versus one that you have stored in your phone.

You know, Josh Shapiro is in the phone of the people in this state. They know him, they trust him. They clearly like him. He is focused on issues that are very local and particular to us, so he offers a little bit of security to people that Pennsylvania's economy, both the health care side of it and the natural gas side of it and everything in between is going to be looked out for in her administration.

So, it is a great pick, but I worked with Tim Walz on the Veterans Committee in Congress and I've campaigned alongside Mark Kelly. I mean, she has some fantastic options, so I don't think she can go wrong.

WHITFIELD: So you mentioned Mark Kelly, does a vice presidential pick kind of need more national recognition in a Mark Kelly, as a senator, as a former astronaut, he has that. Is that advantageous for her?

LAMB: I think his military and NASA experience is the big thing. I don't know that it matters what office he holds now, but Pennsylvania is a state that has a large veteran population and a lot of support for the military and attention to veterans' causes. We are also an older state, so our veterans who are getting older with a lot of Vietnam veterans still dealing with chronic issues and so, you know, Walz was the ranking Democrat on our Veterans Committee in the House. Kelly himself, a veteran who understands and has lived it.

I think that would be a really nice set of knowledge for the two of them to bring to this ticket as well. And I think it would counter someone like JD Vance who although, is a veteran really has not seemed to prioritize the issues of our veterans, particularly our older veterans and these two would be able to shine a light on that.

WHITFIELD: All right, clock is ticking, we will soon find out, won't we?

Former Pennsylvania Congressman Conor Lamb, great to see you. Thanks so much.

LAMB: Thanks for having me.

WHITFIELD: All right, still ahead this hour in the CNN NEWSROOM, Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon exchanging new round of strikes as the Middle East braces for a widening conflict in the region.

And the UK is on edge as violent protests there sweeps several cities following online misinformation about the suspect in a deadly stabbing attack.

We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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WHITFIELD: All right, tonight, the four-part CNN Original Series "1968" looks back on a year marked by a seismic shifts in American politics, social movements, global relations, and cultural icons that changed the modern landscape.

Using archival footage and contemporary interviews, the series maps the tumultuous events of the entire year. Here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAN RATHER, FORMER ANCHOR, CBS EVENING NEWS: The early summer of 1968, there was his ache in the American spirit, what the hell is happening to us? Is the country coming apart at the seams?

EUGENE MCCARTHY, FORMER US REPRESENTATIVE: There are no words that can really fully convey the feeling that I have towards the Kennedy family in this time of their particular tragedy or the feeling that one must have for the nation in the face of this tragedy, this new tragedy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I really think McCarthy felt a sense of guilt in some weird psychological way for this outcome, because he has been a very nasty campaigner.

LANCE MORROW, AMERICAN ESSAYIST AND WRITER: This was one trauma too many and McCarthy sort of gave up after Bobby died instead of pressing on he drifted away. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is one guy that offers an opportunity to, at

least, try to find a way to end the war and that's Gene McCarthy, that's why I am here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: McCarthy didn't want to leap in with a bitter campaign so soon after Senator Kennedy had died, but it felt deserting, like just when we need him most, gone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Back-to-back episodes of the CNN Original Series, "1968" airs tonight at nine Eastern right here on CNN.

All right, Donald Trump and JD Vance rallied in battleground Georgia, but will his 2016 playbook of spewing personal attacks against his rivals be a winning strategy against Kamala Harris?

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WHITFIELD: Former President Donald Trump's campaign is doubling down on divisive attacks on Vice President Kamala Harris just days after Trump falsely claimed at the National Association of Black Journalists that Harris turned Black --his words -- his campaign displayed this "Business Insider" article ahead of a rally in Atlanta, Saturday calling Harris, the first Indian American senator. Well, her mother is Indian and her father is Jamaican.

Trump, trying to question her ethnicity was repeated by several people campaigning for Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. BYRON DONALDS (R-FL): If we are going to be accurate, when Kamala Harris went into the United States Senate, it was AP that says she was the first Indian American United States senator. It was actually played up a lot when she came into the Senate. Now she is running nationally, obviously, the campaign has shifted, they are talking much more about her father's heritage or her Black identity.

It doesn't really matter.

MICHAELAH MONTGOMERY, GOP ACTIVIST: A few days ago, President Trump said he didn't know Vice President Harris was a Black woman. I am trying to figure out what all the outrage is about because she is only Black when it is time to get elected.

While you're touting her as a savior for Black people, she identifies as an Asian woman. She chose her side and it wasn't ours.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Wow, okay. Sophia Nelson with us now. She is a CNN opinion contributor, former counsel for the House Republican Investigative Committee, and the founder and president of Childless Chicks for Harris. Oh, you're funny.

Okay, so Sophia --

SOPHIA NELSON, CNN OPINION CONTRIBUTOR: Thanks, Fred.

WHITFIELD: And you're wearing pink and green. Does that tell me that you're an AKA?

NELSON: Come on Fred, you know better. You know I am.

WHITFIELD: Okay, I actually never knew that, but okay.

NELSON: Now, you do.

WHITFIELD: Now we all know.

Okay, I got it. All right, so Sophia, the Harris Campaign isn't trying to dignify a lot of this, instead saying this is very divisive, that is out of the old playbook of Donald Trump that has been seen before.

But you hear people who are advocating for Donald Trump. It seems to be sticking with them. What are your thoughts?

NELSON: Yes, I mean, it is sticking with them, but listen, I think the vice president got it right the other day when she spoke at the funeral of our sorer, Sheila Jackson Lee when she said America deserves better.

This is the year of our Lord, 2024. The fact that a presidential candidate of a major party would go to NABJ and in front of an entire Black audience of journalists and demean the sitting Black female vice president, the first woman vice president in the history of the country.

And, you know, Fred I wrote about this in "My Atlanta Journal" article, this past week about the one drop rule, and clearly a lot of people in this country aren't familiar what that means, and you've got to go back and learn a little history.

This country was set up in a way that was slavery and then post slavery reconstruction into Jim Crow. That one drop of Black blood and you identified you as Black and Kamala Harris has been clear her entire life who she is.

She went to Howard. She pledged Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority Incorporated. You can't get any blacker than that to be, if we are honest with you, so I don't know what this nonsense is about, but I think she is correct that the country deserves better from the nominee of the Republican Party than this racist, misogynist line of attack.

WHITFIELD: But so far, it seems to be working at least for Trump, right, because he has done this kind of thing before, whether it was the birtherism and there is a litany of other examples as well, but I wonder in your article, which was a great write, you talk about just this kind of display underscores that Donald Trump should not be a leader of a multicultural nation, a country where at least 10 percent of the population, and that's 33 million people who identify as by racial or multi-racial.

NELSON: Fred, as you know, I have two nieces who are biracial. They have a White mother and a Black father and they are the light of my life, and the reality is, is that when they were little, we taught them, you're going to be Black women when you grow up. They are now young women, and the truth is, we all know this.

And I think that what bothers me about this working for Trump, campaigns are about addition, not subtraction. Yes, it gets his base excited. Yes. It coalesces his base, but he is turning off Independents. He is turning off moderate Republicans.

Republicans for Harris launched today, 40,000 people on social media, they're going to have a call. There is a movement for Vice President Harris that is multi-generational, multi-cultural and this country as, you know, in just what -- five years -- will be majority minority.

So I don't know what Republicans are doing. They're subtracting, they're not adding.

WHITFIELD: And you were a longtime Republican.

NELSON: Long time.

WHITFIELD: And in this "AJC" article you wrote, I am going to quote now, I think we have a full screen of it: "Whatever happens, the Republican Party has to start over in 2025 and finally, lean into the 21st Century. Republicans are living in a time warp. Trump and his vice presidential pick, Senator JD Vance of Ohio, showcase this defect nearly every time they speak. They need to start listening to former Republicans, including me and others who have been trying to tell them for 25 years that this train wreck on race and gender equality was always coming."

So now are you hearing anything -- you still have Republican friends --

NELSON: Lots of them.

WHITFIELD: -- you know, while you may not necessarily be in the party or associate yourself with being in the party anymore, are you hearing any discussions about this kind of reckoning that you're writing about?

NELSON: There are a lot of former moderate Republicans like myself and those who came out for Harris today that are very concerned about the collapse of Lincoln's Republican Party, of the Republican Party of Margaret Chase Smith, of Dwight Eisenhower, of good people who led this country in a positive way, both Black and White.

And so I think that Trump is, and the MAGA is going to have to die out before the Republican Party can have any shot, Fred, of coming back and having a rebirth, which is going to have to happen and it is going to be interesting to see how it plays out because they haven't listened to my advice, Michael Steele's vice or anybody's advice, and we've been saying it for decades, not just now. [15:30:21]

WHITFIELD: All right, Sophia Nelson, great to see you.

NELSON: You, too.

WHITFIELD: Appreciate it. Thanks so much.

All right, coming up, Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon exchange a new round of strikes as the Middle East braces for a widening conflict in the region.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:35:20]

WHITFIELD: All right, new today, Israel and militant group, Hezbollah continue to exchange attacks across Lebanon's border. Israel says it struck a rocket launcher in Southern Lebanon after intercepting 30 projectiles fired by Hezbollah overnight.

The latest attacks follow the killing of a top Hezbollah commander last week. Fueling tensions even further, the killing of a Hamas political leader while he was visiting Iran.

Hamas blames Israel for the attack. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied involvement.

We've got full coverage of these developments. CNN's Jeremy Diamond is in Haifa in Northern Israel, and Ben Wedeman is in Beirut.

Jeremy, you first, what's the focus right now?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, what we are watching across Israel is a moment of extraordinary tension, as many Israelis wait to see whether and perhaps more importantly, how and when Iran will retaliate for the apparent Israeli assassination of a Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas' political leader while he was in the Iranian capital.

Israelis so far have not been told to do anything differently in terms of the instructions from the Israeli military's home front command, but already in several cities like Haifa, where we are like in Jerusalem, residents are being told to begin to try and stock up on supplies, to be prepared to move to shelters quickly.

So certainly, they are at a heightened state of awareness and the Israeli military itself is at a heightened state of alert as the Israeli military's top spokesman, Daniel Hagari, says that the Israeli military is already reviewing potential retaliatory actions should Iran and its proxies strike.

But right now, we are also very much in a war of words as the Israeli prime minister himself, his defense minister also try and project strength, trying to make Iran recalculate, rethink what it is preparing to do against Israel. The Israeli prime minister warning that Israel is not only determined

to stand against Iran on every front and in every arena, but he also says that anyone who harms the state of Israel will "pay a very heavy price." He says the Israeli military is prepared for any scenario.

As we are monitoring these regional threats, we are also watching as the carnage in Gaza is continuing. Another very deadly airstrike today on a pair of schools in the Western Gaza city neighborhood of Al-Nasr killing 30 people injuring at least 50 others according to the Palestinian Civil Defense.

And you can just see in these images, not only the heavy toll on civilians in this instance since, but women and children in particular appear to have been impacted by this strike. That is despite the fact that the Israeli military says that they were targeting "terrorists operating inside Hamas command and control centers," and the fact that they claim that they took "numerous steps" to minimize civilian casualties, but you can see you in that video that civilians appear to have paid a very, very high toll in this latest airstrike, which we should note is just the latest of several airstrikes on schools, housing displaced Palestinians in recent days -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: Yes, all right, Jeremy Diamond, thank you for that.

Ben Wedeman to you. Several countries have warned their citizens to get out of Lebanon. What are people inside the country telling you?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, people inside the country, the people here in Lebanon, Fredricka who do not have foreign passport are really just going on with their daily lives as best they can.

We drove around Beirut today to see if there was any sort of run on the supermarkets, for instance, to stock up on supplies, nope, life seemed fairly normal.

All we went to what is called the Corniche, the seafront in West Beirut, what we saw where people out enjoying the sun, drinking beer, listening to music, smoking water pipes, swimming and diving into the water. Families were there having picnics.

In another part of town, there was a march marking the fourth anniversary of the of August 4 Beirut port blast that killed more than 200 people and devastated a large part of the city. There, we heard people are concerned about the possibility of war with Israel, but today the focus was on remembering those who were killed and renewing their demands that those who are held responsible whether through malice, misdeeds or incompetence for that explosion of 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate, one of the largest non-nuclear explosive blasts in history.

And so people here -- keep in mind, Lebanon had a 15-year Civil War.

[15:40:07]

Israel invaded in 1982. There was another war in 1993, 1996, 2006 -- this country has been through so much that people are really jaded. They know how bad war can be, but they know there is not a lot, if you don't have a foreign passport, there is not a lot you can do other than go on with your daily life; hope nothing happens and pray -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: That's the reality.

All right, Ben Wedeman and Jeremy Diamond, thanks to both of you. Appreciate it.

All right, let's get more analysis now on these developments with CNN global affairs analyst, Kimberly Dozier.

Good to see you, Kimberly.

So these cross-border attacks between Israel and Hezbollah, I mean, as Ben was underscoring, I mean, it is a way of life right now, but it has been increasing over the last few months.

So why are we seeing it continue at this kind of pace right now and not necessarily breaking out into all-out war, but that certainly is the concern and fear.

KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, it almost feels like a holding action by Hezbollah. Right now in Qatar, you have Hamas going through a leadership decision-making process to decide who is going to replace Ismail Haniyeh, who was presumed killed by Israel in Tehran, so Hezbollah et cetera will be waiting for word from Iran as to when to attack and how big and how much.

The worries inside Israel are that it will be some sort of coordinated attack where Hezbollah does more than just hit those border areas, but uses some of its tens of thousands of very long range missiles and projectiles to hit populated areas deep inside Israel.

They have never made a major strike on Haifa, for instance, which is near Lebanon, much less on Tel Aviv or places like that, and the worry is that this would be combined with some sort of repeat attack by Iran.

Iran last time sent 170 drones, 30 cruise missiles, and 120 ballistic missiles according to Israeli official count at the country, but Israel was able to use a gauntlet of its own defenses layered in with the US, Jordan, other European countries that knocked most of those projectiles out of the sky before they reached Israel proper.

The worry is that you have a Hezbollah attack and Iran attack together at the same time and that would overwhelm those combined defenses.

WHITFIELD: Yes, that is intense and it is a lot, and worrisome.

I also want to get an update from you on Ukraine. I mean President Zelenskyy says F-16 fighter jets have arrived in the country and he is calling it a new chapter.

Can you help us understand what you think is happening there? DOZIER: Well, one of the major things that Ukraine is facing, the

major threats that we here day after day are multiple Russian projectiles overwhelming Ukraine's air defenses and hitting things like electricity plants, major parts of the infrastructure that are hard to replace because the Ukrainian power system is Soviet era and there aren't too many places that even make that equipment anymore.

So the idea is to beef up Ukraine's air defenses such that they preserve some of the structure for the coming winter. What F-16s do is they add into that layered air defense. They help push back some of Russia's missiles, some of the airframes that they are using to fire this equipment. But it is going to be a slow launch, and it is going to be a slow rollout, because you've got pilots, who yes, have been training some of them for a year on how to use the F-16 airframe, but now they've got to work it into their existing military structure and that is going to take some time to work some kinks out.

WHITFIELD: Fascinating. All right, Kimberly Dozier, thanks so much.

All right, coming up, a wave of misinformation sparks far-right protests across England after three children are killed in a stabbing attack. We will have a live update, next.

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[15:49:14]

WHITFIELD: All right, right now, Florida officials are holding a press conference as the state prepares for Tropical Storm Debby to strike Florida's Gulf Coast, likely as a hurricane.

Let's listen in.

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): Well, good afternoon. We're here in the State EOC. I am joined by our Division of Emergency Management Executive Director Kevin Guthrie.

Right now, Tropical Storm Debby is about 140 miles south-southwest of Cedar Key, this will become a hurricane likely later this evening, and it will make landfall in the state of Florida tomorrow as a hurricane, most likely as a Category One hurricane, but it could potentially be even stronger.

Current maximum sustained winds are 65 miles per hour. We anticipate it could reach 85 to 90 miles per hour sustained winds. This is a track that's very similar to the track that we saw 11 months ago with Hurricane Idalia. It is though, while similar track, going to operate and have much different effects than Idalia did.

[15:50:19]

Idalia was close to a Category Four hurricane, it had strong winds that ripped through the Big Bend area, caused a lot of damage, a lot of debris.

This storm, will not have winds that reach the level of Hurricane Idalia, but it is going to produce way more water throughout the northern part of the state of Florida and we are looking at potentially really, really significant flooding that will happen particularly in North Central Florida as this storm makes landfall in Florida and then heads northeast across Southern Georgia and Northern Florida.

So the message is, make sure you're executing your plan now as the storm comes. You may see -- you may get hit with an awful lot of water, a lot of rain. There may be immediate impacts that do you see, but you could also see flooding that happens days afterwards, after the storm passes.

Do not go into floodwaters. There could be dangerous debris, there could be downed power lines, and please do not drive your vehicles through flooded streets. The number one way we have fatalities as a result of floods is people trying to drive through the flood water. So it is a --

WHITFIELD: All right, we will continue to watch the development of Tropical Storm Debby, another update at the top of the hour.

All right, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is condemning the far right protests and anti-immigrant rhetoric seen across the UK this weekend. Nearly 150 people have been arrested since last night.

Joining me right now from London is journalist, Elliott Gotkine.

Elliott, what are you seeing and hearing about these far-right protests and counterprotests?

ELLIOTT GOTKINE, JOURNALIST: Fred, after a day of violence across a number of cities on Saturday across the UK, there have been further clashes, perhaps even more shocking violence taking place, particularly in the northern cities of Rotherham and Middlesbrough.

In Rotherham in particular, a mob gathered outside a Holiday Inn Hotel where asylum seekers, these are people who have come to the country seeking refugee status, were staying and you can see that in some instances, the police officers with their riot shields up, were being pinned against the wall by the mob.

They were throwing all sorts of projectiles out them, including an armchair. They then managed to break some of the windows of this hotel and break into it.

And there were, the last time I checked, there were still standoffs in Rotherham between police officers and those -- that mob, those people engaging in that disorder.

At least 10 police officers have been injured. Prime Minister Keir Starmer earlier in the day, feeling the need to hold a press conference to address the violence that's been taking place across British cities.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEIR STARMER, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Be in no doubt those that have participated in this violence will face the full force of the law.

This is not protest, it is organized, violent, thuggery and it has no place on our streets or online.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOTKINE: And because mosques and Muslim communities have also been targeted, the government also announced that there would be additional security measures and new emergency security measures being put in place for Muslim communities -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Elliot Gotkine, keep us posted. Thank you so much.

Also happening right now, the Swiss men's triathlon Olympic team is adjusting its lineup after one of its athletes became sick with an intestinal infection.

This comes as Belgium has withdrawn from the mixed relay triathlon race after one of its athletes fell ill.

CNN's Melissa Bell is in Paris for us.

Melissa, you've even taken a swim, right, in The Seine, and we saw the mayor did the same thing. Is there a correlation now between swimming in The Seine and these illnesses of these athletes?

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, for the time being, no one has linked their illnesses directly to the swim, but what has happened, Fredricka is that after both the men's and the women's triathlon went ahead last week, two athletes who took part will now not be taking part in tomorrows mixed triathlon with the entire Belgian team now withdrawing.

And we have had some fairly sharp words in the shape of a statement from the Belgium Olympic Committee, but also its triathlon association saying that they hope that lessons would be learned and that in future, there would be adequate days given for training, that athletes would know more about how and when the events were going to happen.

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Clearly, we await more news on exactly what their conditions are.

What we do know about the Swiss triathlete who has had to withdraw from tomorrow's relay is that he has a gastrointestinal illness. So of course there will a lot of questions now about whether indeed there is a link between the quality of the water and the illnesses that these athletes are now experiencing.

What you saw last week was the couple of days of the training having to be canceled because of the bacteria levels in the River Seine. Remember that the day that the mayor and I went in, the levels of bacteria were sufficiently low. It depends a lot on the weather, if it rains too much, those bacteria levels can rise. That is why the triathlon events that were training had to be

canceled. They went ahead, but lots of questions now exactly about how safe that was -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Wow, all right. Well, Melissa Bell, let us know when you get more answers to those many questions. Thanks so much.

We will be right back.

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