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Kamala Harris Veepstakes Enter Critical Final Hours; Tropical Storm Debby Threatens To Be Worse Than Idalia; Israel And Hezbollah Exchange Attacks Across Lebanon Border; USDA Pays Out $2 Billion For Black Farmers Facing Loan Discrimination; Olympic Athletes Fall Ill; Sprint Legend Allyson Felix; Political Extremism. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired August 04, 2024 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:01:01]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

Six possibilities but which is the one? Today we're told the Harris campaign team is meeting with three of those six candidates tapped as possible running mates. Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, and Arizona Senator Mark Kelly.

CNN's Eva McKend has more.

Has there have been a lot of activity traffic going in and out of the vice president's residence?

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: You know, we haven't seen much, Fred. We know that at this point Vice President Harris relying on a small group of trusted advisers right now. Key among them her husband, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, an attorney himself. Former attorney general Eric Holder leading a team of attorneys involved in this vetting process at rapid speed.

The only indication so far that one of the contenders having a conversation or had a conversation with the vice president, we saw a motorcade with Pennsylvania tags come through and it was similar to the motorcade that we saw leaving with Governor Josh Shapiro earlier today. So perhaps they are having a conversation at this hour, but not entirely sure. And we know of course that she's also considering Arizona Senator Mark Kelly as well as Minnesota Governor --

WHITFIELD: Tim Walz.

MCKEND: I'm sorry, Fred, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. Yes. Thank you. Yes. Yes. OK.

WHITFIELD: We're here to help each other.

MCKEND: And also there is a CBS -- thank you. Yes. And there's also a CBS poll out today, Fred. And it has Harris and former president Donald Trump in a statistical tie. She is at 50 percent to Trump's 49 percent. And that really goes to show you, Fred, how rapidly this contest has evolved, how this Democratic shake-up on the ticket has changed the contours of this race.

WHITFIELD: Yes. It's tricky. I mean, it's tricky keeping up with all these moving parts, believe me. I mean, we're all feeling it. It's a lot has happened in just a couple of weeks, so we're all learning as we go and getting familiar with it. So the Harris campaign, I mean, you know, she is launching a new program aimed at mobilizing GOP voters to what degree?

MCKEND: You know, this is interesting to me, Fred. It's called Republicans for Harris. They're describing it as a campaign within a campaign. And it stuck out to me because there isn't sort of something similar on the Republican side. You don't see necessarily a robust effort from Republicans to engage Democrats in the same way. There isn't sort of a Democrats for Trump.

But this Republicans for Harris effort is basically aimed at leaning on a network of Republicans to talk to other Republicans about why it's OK and significant and important for them to uphold democracy by supporting Vice President Harris. And they said that they're going to make an investment in this campaign. They have a unity ad, a digital ad, that's already out now, and that is aimed, for instance, to appeal to Haley supporters, people that supported Nikki Haley in the Republican primary.

So they see this as a key part of the electorate that they have to appeal to these disaffected Republicans that might not necessarily want to support Trump, and that they have to do all that they can to bring them into the fold -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Eva McKend, thank you so much in the nation's capital.

All right. More on our coverage now of Tropical Storm Debby. We just heard from Florida Governor Ron DeSantis moments ago urging residents to execute their evacuation plans now ahead of landfall.

[16:05:01]

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 of the state. It's expected to follow a similar path as what we'll remember in Hurricane Idalia last year.

All right. Let's bring in both CNN correspondent Rafael Romo in Atlanta and meteorologist Derek Van Dam watching the forecast from the CNN Weather Center.

Rafael, you first.

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Fred, cities across the southeast specifically in Florida, here in Georgia, and in South Carolina are getting ready for the impact of this storm. And Governor Brian Kemp here in Georgia declared a state of emergency Saturday because the state is expected to get potentially historic rainfall according to the National Weather Service. And South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster has done the same in his

state. Charleston is expected, expecting, I should say, up to 18 inches of rain, which could cause life-threatening floodwaters and flash flooding.

And also in Florida, several coastal counties from St. Petersburg and Tampa all the way to Panama City and Panama City Beach are under either mandatory or voluntary evacuation orders specifically those people who live in coastal or low-lying areas. There are mandatory evacuation orders in several Florida coastal counties, including Franklin, Wakulla, Dixie, Levy and Citrus. Other counties, Fred, have issued voluntary evacuation orders.

A tropical depression for strengthened Saturday afternoon into Tropical Storm Debby and the southeastern Gulf of Mexico, the National Hurricane Center now says it is expected to become a category one hurricane this evening before making landfall Monday morning in Florida's Big Bend region.

This is how Director Michael Brennan explained that earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL BRENNAN, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER: The biggest threat and most widespread threat is going to be the heavy rainfall and the potential for considerable flooding. Flash and urban flooding across portions of Florida and into the coastal southeastern United States from today all the way through Thursday. And there will be the possibility of river flooding in many locations as well as that heavy rainfall falls on drains into river basins.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: And, Fred, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis earlier said that he's activated both of the Florida National and State Guards to be ready for rescue and humanitarian assistance. Now back to you.

WHITFIELD: Wow, bracing and preparing for the worst. All right. Rafael Romo, thank you so much.

Derek Van Dam, I mean tropical storms and hurricanes bring all a lot of potential, you know, damage through the wind and in this case, the rain or the water flooding is going to be a big threat?

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, and each storm is different, right?

WHITFIELD: Yes.

VAN DAM: But I want to show you and everyone watching at home this new video out of Fort Myers Beach, if you'll recall what happened, Hurricane Ian back in 2022, that brought so much devastation to this area. It's heartbreaking to see. Now businesses and homes being inundated by another round of storm surge from a passing tropical storm that's well 100, over 100 miles away from the coast of Naples, for instance. This is just incredible, six to 10 feet, though. That is our greatest

storm surge potential across the Big Bend. We call that the catcher's mitt of Florida, really accumulating all that water in the shallow waters of the eastern Gulf of Mexico and that will of course bring dangerous, life-threatening storm surge. But we already saw it impacting businesses well to the south here in Naples and into Fort Myers Beach.

The storm getting its act together. We're waiting for that 5:00 p.m. update from the National Hurricane Center. This is the latest radar. There have been pop-up tornadoes, short-lived tornado warnings that have occurred across the state and into the peninsula. Could see a few waterspouts as well. We have a tornado watch that's valid through 8:00 p.m. this evening. But of course, that's not the only threat going forward.

I want you to pay attention to this forecast path. This storm could be a high-end category one by the time it makes landfall early Monday morning. That means 90-mile-per-hour winds sustained. We have tropical storm watches along the coastal areas of the Carolinas and Georgia. This system will stall out, lose its steering currents, and sit over an extended period of time across this area.

So here is our greatest flash flood threat today, tomorrow, and then I want to advance this into Tuesday where we believe the heaviest of rain will occur and fall across the coastal areas of South Carolina and parts of Georgia. Heads up, Charleston, you know you're prone to flooding. Savannah, Georgia, you as well. We get the inland flooding and rainfall potential and then that matches up with the potential of storm surge. That is a recipe for disaster. Some of our models here maxing out at 20 inches or more of rain -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. People need to listen up and really be on top of all these warnings. Thank you so much, Derek Van Dam, appreciate that. And Rafael Romo.

[16:10:03]

All right, still ahead this hour, Israel and the militant group Hezbollah continue to exchange attacks across Lebanon's border as more countries urged citizens to evacuate amid growing fears of an all-out regional war. Plus some federal financial help to thousands of America's black farmers. How impactful will it be?

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:15:05]

WHITFIELD: We're following developments in the Middle East this hour. 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 back-and-forth attacks follow the killing of a top Hezbollah commander last week and new this hour, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is talking with counterparts from the Middle East and G7 countries as he tries to de-escalate the situation.

I want to bring in now Erin Banco. She is the national security reporter for "Politico" and is a former correspondent covering the Middle East.

Great to see you. So what is the conversation in the White House and the U.S. State Department right now about what to do next, how to respond?

ERIN BANCO, NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER, POLITICO: So officials in the White House who we've spoken to are very much on edge about what could be coming in the next 24 hours. We are expecting some kind of multi- pronged attack from Hezbollah and its proxy, other proxy groups aligned with Iran. The U.S. has sent additional troops and destroyers to the region to try to intercept some of the missiles that we anticipate will be coming similar to what we saw in April.

But what's interesting about the conversations in the White House right now is that they are very similar to the conversations that U.S. officials have been having with Middle Eastern counterparts for months, really since October 7th. This has been a confrontation that the U.S. has tried to put off and stop ever since the Gaza war really started. And so far, the U.S. has been able to hold back Iran and its proxy groups. But there is something unique also about what we're seeing here. Hezbollah did not do as much damage as it wanted to do in April. So I think what we're seeing now is U.S. officials and Israeli officials really on guard for what could be coming.

WHITFIELD: And I wonder, you know, or what your opinion is as to how the U.S. is prepared for whatever retaliation does come? Because, I mean, it's retaliation from a lot of different sides because there have been a lot of provocations and then threats of retaliation or even follow through with retaliation.

BANCO: That's right. I mean, war is complicated and is complex and what we know is what President Biden and other top U.S. officials have said publicly, which is we will help Israel defend itself. I don't think the U.S. would go so far as to put troops right in the middle of everything. I don't think we would be offensive in any real way. I think our approach is to handle this crisis that we're dealing with now very similarly to how we handled in April.

The question is, does Hezbollah and the proxies that it's working with have new or heightened capabilities that they have not yet used or shown us that could make this attack much worse than what we saw in April.

WHITFIELD: We had a Republican Congressman Brian Mast on last hour and he said, the only way the U.S. can succeed in the Middle East is from a position of greater power. Do you think the U.S. is working toward what would be considered a greater power by sending a carrier strike group and more warships to the region?

BANCO: Well, remember, we did this a few -- not a few months ago, several months ago, I guess now. I think this administration has made its position pretty clear in terms of it wanting to stay out of the Middle East as much as possible. What's been unique about Biden, which is really interesting is how he's handled Iran in particular. There are no real talks happening beyond intermediaries, but so far we've been able to get our message through to Tehran that we think that any sort of direct confrontation between Tehran and Jerusalem would not just be bad for the U.S. and its allies, it would be bad for Iran as well.

I think Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have again said publicly that they do not want to see U.S. troops back in the Middle East. It's done a lot to try to unwind what previous administrations had done. And I don't think we'll be seeing any, again, sort of offensive nature from U.S. troops in the coming days.

WHITFIELD: All of this is taking, you know, the front seat and now in the backseat seem to be the ceasefire negotiations. Do you maintain or do your sources maintain that there's hope for that still?

BANCO: We were very, very close about a month ago, not quite a month ago, in the middle of July. And then something happened the week of the Aspen Security Conference where right before Bibi's visit, he decided to call back Barnea from going to meet U.S. officials and other officials who have been involved in these conversations from Egypt and Qatar.

[16:20:12]

And since then, things have stalled. They met over the weekend from my sources who are involved in these conversations. I'm not hearing that any progress has been made. I know that the deal is very similar to the framework that Biden laid out in May. However, both Hamas and Israel now have new demands, sort of tweaks to the really minute details of this deal, including how to handle the border between Gaza and Egypt.

That's a huge sticking point. Egypt does not want Israel to be in control of that border. Israel does not want Hamas to be able to smuggle goods from Egypt or weapons in from Egypt into Gaza. So the question is, then who takes control of that border and how? And that seems to be the biggest sticking point right now.

WHITFIELD: All right. Erin Banco, we'll leave it there for now. Thank you so much.

BANCO: Thanks for having me.

WHITFIELD: All right. Coming up, black farmers across the U.S. will soon see some financial relief from the federal government. The president of the National Black Farmers Association joins me to discuss, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:25:44]

WHITFIELD: Black and minority farmers will begin receiving discrimination relief payments from the USDA after years of bias in the agency's farm loan program. The Biden administration announced more than $2 billion in assistance payments have just been made.

John Boyd, Jr. has been in the fight for black farmers in the U.S. for a very long time trying to bring equity and relief in a variety of ways. He is also the founder and president of the National Black Farmers Association.

John, great to see you.

JOHN BOYD JR., FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT, NATIONAL BLACK FARMERS ASSOCIATION: Fred, thank you so much for having me. Always wonderful to join you.

WHITFIELD: Thank you. I'm so glad that you could be with us. So President Biden, you know, said he had unfinished business that he wanted to tackle before the end of his term and this week, more of the -- some 43,000 black farmers will start receiving relief checks. The average award is $82,000. So help people understand why these checks are coming and how they will be put to use.

BOYD: Yes. Well, this past Sunday Inflation Reduction Act is where this measure actually passed for $2.2 billion. There were 60,000 plus applications that went in. The National Blak Farmers Association, Fredricka, we see this as a huge victory for us and we went out on the road and held 60 meetings around that country where thousands of black farmers attended. We sent out 130,000 postcards. And I was pleased when I saw the number was 45,000 that was approved.

And I'm already hearing from farmers that are receiving their checks, if you attempted to farm, that amount was between 3,000 and 6,000. And for the actual farmers themselves, the average was about, like you said, 83,000. I've heard some farmers the max were 500,000. So this is very good news for black farmers who are struggling to hold onto their farming operation. This is long overdue justice and much welcomed good news.

WHITFIELD: My goodness. So, I mean, there's long been a disparity, right, in the USDA loans between black farmers versus farmers in other racial groups. I mean, here are some of the stats that we were able to dig up last year. Black farmers were denied 43 percent of the time. So how do you hope or see this payment program leading to breaking a cycle? Because that's been the allegation that you and many farmer, especially your organization, has been saying for a very long time. It's been a cycle, a years-long cycle.

BOYD: Yes, and black farmers endure so much discrimination, especially at the hands of the United States Department of Agriculture. At the turn of the century, there were one million black farmer families in the United States. We were tilling 20 million acres of land. We're now down to three-and-a-half million acres of land and roughly hovering about 50,000 black farmers. So probably statistic we're less than 1 percent of the actual nation's farmers. But I do want to clear one thing.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

BOYD: The sign-up period for this program has already expired. Our phones have been ringing off the hook. The application process was from July from last year, and a deadline was January 17th of this year. So the sign-up period is over and we had a lot of meetings and we help each and every one of those farmers. It took us, Fredricka, about three-and-a-half hours on each farmer to fill those applications out and send them in.

And congratulations to those who got it. And for those who didn't, I'm very, very sorry. And there's a lot of misinformation out there -- but we're seeing, this time you should have listened to the messenger. The guy who's been out here for 41 years and I tried to help each and every one of these farmers because I know that they've been brutally mistreated especially by our own (INAUDIBLE), at the very (INAUDIBLE) supposed to live for (INAUDIBLE), was taken us out.

WHITFIELD: Well, so that's very unfortunate for a lot of people who are still trying to get assistance, didn't know about the deadline that you are speaking of. But do you still -- you know, and they are still reaching out to you to find out. Is it your hope then that there will be another application season? I mean, what do you end up telling them?

[16:30:06]

BOYD: Well, here's (INAUDIBLE), Fredricka. We didn't get the $5 billion indefinitely. So, I want to clear that up, too. That measure is in federal court. It will be represented by attorney Ben Drook (?).

But I've been pushing the administration, and in conversations with the administration, about by executive order coming forward with that relief, $5 billion in debt relief. That will return land to those black farmers who still have their deeds or trusts tied up with the United States (INAUDIBLE.)

So, I want to separate the two. The payments were different than the actual debt relief itself.

WHITFIELD: Wow. OK. Hey, I want to ask you real quick, too. You know, and I realize that, you know, it's a different organization. But the Black Farmers and Agricultural List Association, which has -- which says it has about 20,000 members, tried to get this relief program suspended. Saying the discrimination and financial assistance program should be open to applicants filing on behalf of their deceased relatives who face discrimination. What has been your thought on that?

BOYD: Well, that's (INAUDIBLE.) That's called reparations. and that would be every descendant of a farm, a black person in this country. And I certainly would like to see that. Well, let's take that up. A reparation pays in the United States. Because black people never get reparations.

But this wasn't the program. This was a targeted language specifically drafted by Congress that said you have to be a farmer or attempted to farm. USDA added the latter part of that, attempted to farm. So, the language never addressed heirs (?). This was the language we were dealt with. And I went out and done the best I could within the definition that was provided to us by an act of Congress. And I think we've done a very good job getting the word out. 60,000 people applied. 45,000 of my people who have received debt (INAUDIBLE.) And about $1.5 billion, more specifically, to blacks.

Also, there were other target groups that were eligible to take part in this. Native American farmers, I've heard from them, that are receiving checks, and Hispanics and others. So, we take it as a huge win, and we take it as -- and for many, many black farmers who are struggling, who needed the money right now, you know. And the Biden Administration didn't come through on this piece.

And now, again, I would like to sit down for a drinker (?) with the president and talk to him about the latter part, which is the debt relief which is the land. As you've been covering this issue for decades. And you know that I've been after (INAUDIBLE.) And this is an opportune time for the president to grant that by an executive order.

WHITFIELD: Yes, I know you've been on if our very long time. We've talked about it for a very long time. And congratulations, especially as you are considering this a huge victory and so are so many of these 40,000 farmers.

And maybe -- since there is still unfinished business by the Biden Administration he says, maybe you will get that Facetime. That one on one with him to try and keep it going.

John Boyd, Jr., thank you so much. Always great to see you. Congratulations.

BOYD: Thank you, Fredricka. Thank you very much, ma'am (?).

WHITFIELD: All right. Coming up, two countries are pulling their Olympic athletes, like, out of the races because of illnesses. What we're learning about their conditions next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:38:04]

WHITFIELD: Tonight, the four-part CNN original series, "1968", looks back on a year marked by seismic shifts in American politics, social movements, global relations and cultural icons that changed the modern landscape. Using archival footage in contemporary interviews, the series maps the tumultuous events and of the entire year. Here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN RATHER, FORMER ANCHOR, CBS EVENING NEWS: By the early summer of 1968, there was this ache in the American spirit (INAUDIBLE.) What the hell is happening to us? Is the country coming apart at the seams?

EUGENE MCCARTHY (D), FORMER SENATOR, MINNESOTA: 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 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: This is one trauma too many. And McCarthy sort of gave up after Bobby died. Instead of pressing on, he drifted away.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's one guy that offers an opportunity to at least try to find a way to end the war, and that's Gene McCarthy. And that's why I'm here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: McCarthy didn't want to leap in with a bitter campaign so soon after Senator Kennedy had died. But it felt deserted. Like just when we need him most. Gone.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Back-to-back episodes of the CNN original series, "1968", airs tonight at 9:00 Eastern, right here on CNN. And we'll be right back.

[16:39:46]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, happening right now. The Belgian Olympic Committee just issued an update on the condition of its sick triathlete, saying that they were not hospitalized but went to the clinic in the Olympic village for treatment. This is on the heels of the Swiss men's triathlon Olympic team, adjusting its lineup after one of its athletes became game sick with a gastrointestinal infection.

CNN's Melissa Bell is in Paris for us. Melissa, Belgium has withdrawn from the mixed relay triathlon race altogether now, after one of its athletes fell ill?

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR PARIS CORRESPONDENT: That's right. The entire team not, now, taking part in this event.

[16:45:00]

BELL: The Swiss will go ahead. They just have to change their lineup, as a result of the triathletes getting that gastrointestinal illness.

Now, for the time being, neither Belgian authorities or the Swiss directly link the illnesses of their triathletes to their participation last week in the triathlon events, both men and women. But, clearly, this raises a lot of questions.

Of course, it was always a big gamble, on the part of French authorities, to go ahead with these swimming races in the river. It's a (?) huge operation, Fredricka, to get it cleaned up. More than $1.5 billion were involved.

But, of course, the weather conditions affect the bacteria levels, in a sense. So, each day, before either training sessions or actual events, the water is tested and a decision is made in the early hours about whether it can go ahead.

Last week, a couple of training events were canceled because bacteria levels were too high. The men's triathlon event had to be postponed until the next day. It took place on the same day as the women's in the end. Where authorities decided, even though it had been raining, that the bacteria levels were sufficiently low. That this could go ahead.

The latest that we've heard is that the mix triathlon relay event will go ahead tomorrow morning. Paris 2024 have made that announcement. But, of course, without that Swiss triathlete and without the Belgium team all together.

So, we've been pressing up Paris 2024 for more answers on what they believe could have caused these illnesses. Whether there might be any link. For now, we've had no answer. But, clearly, a lot of questions being raised about just how clean the water was and whether indeed it was safe -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Right. And aren't there samples that are taken every day anyway?

BELL: That's right. They're taken every day. And they have -- 23 hours later, you get the results. And it's about 3:00 a.m. they make the decision about whether these events can go ahead.

And the weather has a huge impact. Authorities here haven't been helped by the weather. We've had a lot of rain. More rain over the course of the weekend. And that will see bacteria levels, including E.coli rise to unsafe levels on several days last week.

And we look ahead to see both what happens tomorrow and what more we hear about the condition of the triathletes that have come down with illnesses -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Fredricka, man, I know some -- many are devastated, right. All right. Melissa Bell, thank you so much.

All right, the men's 100-meter final came down to a photo finish. And the fastest man in the world, Noah Lyles, takes home his first Gold Medal. But, first, CNN's Coy Wire sat down with track and field star phenom, Allyson Felix, take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Most decorated American track athlete in Olympic history. What has been a story line that's really stood out to you about these games?

ALLYSON FELIX, ATHLETE, OLYMPICS: I think just, you know, the stories of the athletes. You know, every athlete has, you know, such a great story of where they come from. And that's what I really love about the Olympic games.

WIRE: Who's standing out to you? Like what's one athlete that people have to follow?

FELIX: Gabby Thomas is someone that I think is really primed for a great performance. And I think people should follow her. She's really exciting. And she's confident. And, yes. And, also, I might be a little biased. She runs my favorite event.

WIRE: You know things are about running fast. Americans finished two and three in the women's 100 meter. Big expectations for Sha'Carri Richardson. What do you think happened?

FELIX: I think that, you know, the hundred is a race where you can't have really any mistakes. You know, and Julien Alfred had a brilliant start and Sha'Carri wasn't really able to recover from hers. But it's the Olympics. Anything can happen. I think that's what we see, time and time again. But she's young. She has so much future ahead of her. And I'm sure that she will be back at many Olympic games.

WIRE: You were the face of American athletics for more than a decade. Now, it's people like Sha'Carri Richardson, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone. What kind of pressure comes with that?

FELIX: There is a lot of pressure. There's a lot of expectations, when you are the favorite, and, you know, when you're the face that everyone is looking toward. So, hopefully everyone has a really good support system to be able to manage some of those expectations.

WIRE: Now, you may not be on the track anymore, but you're still winning at these Olympics. You advocated to have a nursery in the Olympic village. What was the impetus of that and how's it going?

FELIX: Yes. When I had my daughter and my first season back, I took her everywhere and it was really challenging. And so, when I got appointed to the IOC's athlete commission, I really wanted to advocate for families and for mothers. And so, I'm so proud that we have a family space in the village and that families can take advantage of it.

WIRE: That's incredible, leaving your mark even after you've hung up the cleats, so to speak.

When I've spoken to you at previous Olympics, I teased you a bit, not cool, about your nickname being Sug, aka Sugar, because she likes dessert so much. And you couldn't really have them, because you were competing. Now that you're done, how much dessert are you eating and what's your go-to?

FELIX: I have a thing for ice cream and so that's definitely my go-to. And I can splurge now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[16:50:00]

WIRE (live): All right. We're going to go from Allyson Felix and loving her sweets to something really sweet for team USA, Fredricka. You know, Noah Lyles has just made a little bit of history. When I talked to him ahead of these games, he said he already knew he was the world's fastest man. This was just something for everybody else.

A 20-year drought for the USA in the men's 100 meter is over. The most exhilarating nine seconds in sports. Years of training. For a moment that lasted about two deep breaths. And this one came down to a photo finish.

Jamaica's 23-year-old Kishane Thompson thought he won it. But after about 15 seconds, that seemed like an eternity, it was determined that Noah Lyles out leaned him at the tape. A personal best, 9.97 seconds, beating Thompson by five one-thousandths of a second. USA's Fred Kerley took the Bronze.

Now, Lyles didn't win his qualifier. Didn't win the semifinal. But, Fredricka, when it mattered most, he delivered. He's the first American man to win the 100 meters in 20 years. And he is not done. His best event is the 200. He's three-time world champion in that event, so he has a chance to further stake his claim as the fastest man on the planet.

WHITFIELD: Wow. So, for anyone who didn't believe in the importance of the lean, there you go. That's newest evidence of why its important.

OK. So, again, preparing for a show today, so I didn't see it. So, I can't wait to watch all the replay tonight.

WIRE: Yes, spoiler alert, sorry. (INAUDIBLE.)

WHITFIELD: That's OK. Just embrace it all.

WIRE: All right, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Coy Wire, thank you so much.

WIRE: You got it.

WHITFIELD: We're back in a moment.

[16:51:41]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back. Threats of political violence are on the rise and people operating in the darkest corners of the Internet are partly to blame. CNN Correspondent Elle Reeve investigated the origins of this online polarization and how it changed American politics. Her new book is called "Black Pill: How I Witnessed the Darkest Corners of the Internet Come to Life."

And joining me right now is Elle Reeve. Elle, great to see you. So, what did you see that inspired this book? ELLE REEVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's not just what I saw but that I saw it repeat. It was this collective mania. People had thought, in 2017, that the outright (?) was just a bunch of guys in their basements or they were just joking. It wasn't real.

And then, all of a sudden, they showed up chanting, like, out of their minds, Jews will not replace us. America is appalled by that. They go back. You know, they're wiped out of American society, for the most part.

But then, on January sixth, QAnon brings another much broader set of people to the Capitol in the same way. I mean, I was standing there on the steps of the Capitol on January 6th, and these people were crazed and absolutely believed to their hearts that they were doing the right thing for their country.

WHITFIELD: So, those are two examples of, I guess, the consequences. What we're seeing right out in the open. But it's all the stuff before it's out in the open that sounds most worrisome, right? So, how is it fueled? Who were the people who are responsible for these dark corners of the Web or, you know, how was this information helping to fuel the kind of outrage in those two examples you just gave?

REEVE: It's -- I -- so, I talked to many of the people who, behind the scenes, helped create these movements. And they're -- it's scary because they are so small. They're just human beings. They're regular people. They are not great, evil geniuses.

They are people who are angry. They have a lot of time on their hands. And they're highly obsessive. And they were able to sort of seize the moment around the first time Trump ran for president to hitch a ride on that. To, like, catch that wave and inject their ideas into the mainstream.

WHITFIELD: So, is there anything being done to, I guess, combat this far right rhetoric or the misinformation that is seen?

REEVE: Well, so, after Elon Musk bought Twitter, renamed it X, I saw many of my old, white nationalist sources popping back up on that platform. They'd been kicked off for hate speech or harassment. And, suddenly, they were welcomed back into the mainstream.

But, to me, what's more concerning is that there are people like Elon Musk. People in the pro-Trump sort of intellectual side of that movement that are happy to show their real faces and real names. And have the same feeling that America is on the brink of disaster.

So, extreme measures are warranted to save it from that. And those are often measures the average person, people who believe in democracy, would not want to see happen in our country -- in our country.

WHITFIELD: Elle Reeve, I look forward to delving into it. It's called the "Black Pill." Good to see you. Thank you so much.

And thank you, everybody, for joining me today. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. The CNN NEWSROOM continues with Jessica Dean right now. [17:00:00]

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