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Harris Close On Picking A Critical Running Mate; Trump And Vance Campaign In Georgia Attacking Harris; Tropical Storm Debby To Become A Category One Hurricane; Tensions Heightened In The Middles East between Israel And Hezbollah; Manu Raju Interviews Sherrod Brown And Bernie Moreno; CNN Covers Olympics. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired August 04, 2024 - 17:00   ET

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

[17:00:00]

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JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: You're in the "CNN Newsroom." Hi, everyone. I'm Jessica Dean in New York. Vice President Kamala Harris about to make what could be the most consequential decision of her political career so far. Right now, Harris is deciding who will join her on the Democratic ticket as her running mate.

Today, she's meeting with at least three top VP contenders, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, and Arizona Senator Mark Kelly. Earlier today, we saw a motorcade with Pennsylvania license plates rolling out of the vice president's residence there in Washington, D.C. And last hour, former Attorney General Eric Holder, who's been helping with this vetting process, you saw they're giving the cameras a thumbs up.

Now, the big announcement is expected to culminate with a campaign blitz across multiple battleground states that you see right there. It will begin Tuesday in Philadelphia, where Harris will introduce her running mate to America for the very first time. So we will continue to follow this developing story and bring you reports throughout the next couple of hours.

In the meantime, former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Senator J.D. Vance, were in the critical swing state of Georgia on Saturday. They held a rally in the same place where Vice President Kamala Harris campaigned just a few days ago.

But besides attacking his likely opponent, Trump blasted Georgia's popular Republican governor as well. CNN's Alayna Treene has more.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Well, just the former president really tried to sharpen and hone his attacks on Kamala Harris last night. And it was interesting. At one point, he kind of said the quiet part out loud and admitted that they need to work to define her. Take a listen to what he said.

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DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Four months ago, she was considered grossly incompetent by the fake news. Now they're saying, oh, isn't she wonderful? Isn't she wonderful? No, she's not wonderful. So we have to work hard to define her. I don't want to even define her. I just want to say who she is. She's a horror show. She'll destroy our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: Now, just the reason I find that so interesting is because it really mirrors what I'm hearing from Donald Trump's senior advisers, which is they are still trying to figure out which lines of attack are the most effective with the Republican Party and Trump's base, but also with the broader group of more moderate leaning conservatives that they're trying to target. And remember, this has been a struggle for Trump's campaign.

They have spent the entire election cycle thus far going after Joe Biden. They actually largely ignored Harris on the campaign trail up until Biden ended his campaign. And so they're really reimagining that playbook and trying to see what is the best way to define her.

Now, I also found it interesting that he tried to tie Harris to Hillary Clinton. He noted and really mocked Harris for having celebrity performers at her rally at the exact same venue in Atlanta, Georgia, earlier in the week. Should people like Megan Thee Stallion perform? And Trump argued that he found the whole act to be phony.

Now, he also mentioned that it reminded him of Hillary Clinton having people like Bruce Springsteen perform for her on the campaign trail back in the lead up to 2016. He argued and kind of joked that he has a bad trait and argued that he only likes people that like him. Now, another notable moment last night or several moments, I should say, is when he repeatedly criticized and attacked the Georgia governor, Brian Kemp.

Remember, Kemp was very central to pushing back on Trump's claims that the 2020 election and specifically the election results in Georgia were rife with fraud. Now, Kemp has said that he was not going to support Donald Trump in the Republican primary, but he has said that he would support him in the general election. Trump called him disloyal despite that and said that he was trying to break up the Republican Party. Jess?

DEAN: All right, Alayna Treene, thanks so much for that reporting. And joining us now CNN senior political commentator and former Republican congressman of Illinois, Adam Kinzinger. Congressman, great to have you. Thanks for being here on this Sunday. Today, you announced you are endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris for president and you joined a number of fellow Republicans to kick off Republicans for Harris. Tell us why.

ADAM KINZINGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I mean, it's really easy. Look, if you're a conservative, a real conservative that believes in things like the Constitution, the principles this country was founded on, I mean, you can disagree with Kamala Harris on policy issues, but really the threat that's really near to us is does democracy survive? And I don't mean that like esoterically or to be like dramatic, but when you think of the last election and the fact that Donald Trump convinced a significant amount of the country that trusted him, that put their faith in him, that an election was stolen when it wasn't stolen.

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When you convince people that the system doesn't work and that your voice isn't heard, you do real damage to self-governance. It's really hard to self-govern if a significant amount of the country believes that their voice isn't heard, their vote doesn't count.

So, in my mind, there's no doubt Donald Trump is a clear threat to the future of democracy, the future faith of democracy, and Kamala Harris has made it clear that she supports it even when we disagree on things. That's what democracy is about. It's about disagreeing. And also, by the way, another big thing, she supports Ukraine's victory against Russia and Donald Trump has been very clear that he instead admires Russia. So that's why.

DEAN: And what do you say to some Republicans who might say to you and the others who are joining you in this endeavor, oh, they're not real Republicans anymore. They don't believe and they're not members of our party anymore. What do you say to that criticism?

KINZINGER: Well, look, I understand it because in a cult, what you do is when somebody goes against the cult leader or they go a little bit outside of whatever the cult norms are, they get excommunicated. They get made an example of and they get, you know, proverbially, politically executed.

And that's what's happened to people that have basically said Donald Trump is not qualified. So, it doesn't surprise me when people say you're not a real Republican because, you know, you don't support Donald Trump. What I can say is this is, over my 12 years in Congress and then my couple of years since like, yeah, I've matured on a lot of things as I've grown older, but I'm still basically the same guy and I believe the same stuff. If that all of a sudden makes me not a Republican, that says a lot more about the party than it does about me.

DEAN: And Harris, of course, the goal here is to build a coalition that can win in November and that, like 2020 for Biden, is going to include and frankly, 2016 for Trump, independent voters who she can convince should come break her way, including probably Republicans who don't want to vote for Trump. With that in mind, who do you think would make the strongest VP selection? And do you think that that selection will ultimately -- how powerful of a factor do you think that might be for some of these voters?

KINZINGER: Look, if you take the three candidates, you know, Walz, Kelly and Shapiro that are being discussed, I think all of them are really good. I know Tim Walz from this time in the House had a lot of great interactions with him. We have a lot of great respect for each other, even when we disagreed. Mark Kelly, I love because he's a pilot and a NASA guy, right? So that's a cool thing for me. And then Shapiro, obviously, Pennsylvania is very important.

I think really any of them will be helpful because you just compare them to J.D. Vance. And, you know, he talks about childless cat ladies. These folks will be talking about the future, which I think is a pretty big difference. But I would say probably specifically for Republicans, I'm not sure if there's any of them will make a difference. But I think any of those three and probably any of the dark horses being discussed will be helpful when you put up next to J.D. Vance. And we'll just continue to build this momentum that Kamala has seen, even though obviously there's a long and grinding campaign ahead.

DEAN: And former President Trump and the Republicans are trying to figure out what their message is against Kamala Harris. But certainly they are leaning into a lot of the more liberal positions that she took, especially in that 2019, 2020 primary, this last go around. Obviously, she's trying in a way to reintroduce herself to a lot of voters who know her as the vice president, but maybe don't know a ton about her beyond that. How do you think she can best defend herself against these Republican attacks that she's too liberal?

KINZINGER: Well, look, I think she needs to, to an extent -- this is me putting on my analyst hat -- she needs to address these head on and, you know, things like fracking, for instance, she has changed her position on, which is good. And she has a legitimate point of view to say that. I mean, first off, J.D. Vance, like a couple of years ago, was super anti-Trump and now he's his vice president.

But, you know, she can say, look, I was a senator in California, which obviously is a pretty left-wing state. And then she became vice president, a representative for the whole country. And so you can see these issues from a different perspective when you're vice president. I think it's important to take those head on, to point out the number of -- Donald Trump does not even really have a true North Star in terms of what he believes anyway.

From the Republican perspective, they would be smart politically to focus on the issues. The problem is, as you talked about in the lead up to this, Donald Trump can't help himself from going into attacking her race, saying that she doesn't know what race she is or he doesn't know what race she is, or then turning around and saying, you know, Governor Kemp, the most popular governor in a swing state, is a bad person. It just goes to show how entirely online they are, looking at Twitter, looking at Truth Social and totally disconnected with what the vast majority of Republicans and Americans really want.

DEAN: All right. Congressman Adam Kinzinger, thanks so much. Stay with us for just a second, because we are getting our correspondent, Eva McKend, who's with us, who's going to talk to us more about the Veep stakes, what the vice president is doing today as she meets with a number of advisers.

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Eva, there at the vice-presidential residence in Washington, D.C. What more are you learning? EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jessica, we

just did see former Attorney General Eric Holder. He came in here and he, of course, is so instrumental in this process. He is leading a team of Democratic attorneys engaged in this expedited vetting process for these candidates. He's in the small circle the vice president is leaning on to make this consequential decision.

We also earlier today saw a motorcade with Pennsylvania plates. It could have been Governor Josh Shapiro. It looked awfully like the motorcade that he was with when he left Pennsylvania earlier today, but it did not go through this entrance.

In addition to Shapiro, though, we know that the vice president is also meeting today with Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, as well as Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. And what we're hearing from Democrats, Jessica, is that Walz is really a consensus pick, that in the last several days they have seen him be a really effective messenger for Harris on the campaign trail, an effective surrogate, and good at connecting with key parts of the coalition, both progressive Democrats as well as centrist Democrats.

Also a new poll out today, Jessica, just remarkable. It has Harris and the former president in a dead heat, with Harris at 50 percent and Trump at 49 percent, and that really illustrates how much this contest has been turned upside down and how much this Democratic shakeup on the ticket has changed the contours of this race, Jessica.

DEAN: Yeah, it certainly has, Eva, certainly a very different race than we had just on our hands a couple of weeks ago. It is a remarkable thing. Eva McKend, thanks so much. Let's go back now to Congressman Adam Kinzinger, who has very kindly stayed with us through that. We just wanted to make sure we're getting everybody the latest on that ongoing story as she selects her running mate.

Congressman, I also wanted to ask you about this rally that the former president had last night in Atlanta. He went after the very popular Republican governor there, Brian Kemp, among other elected Republicans in the state of Georgia. What do you make of this strategy in a battleground state that likely is now back in play?

KINZINGER: Well, I mean, it's the dumbest strategy because, again, you know, the vast majority of Republicans in Georgia like Kemp, independents like Kemp and even some Democrats like Kemp and voted for him. To go after him is like, and again, just from an analyst's perspective, it's nonsensical. It's bizarre.

But here's the thing. Donald Trump, to his credit, is really good at kind of sensing the crowd, knowing where applause lines are. You can actually, if you watch him, see him adjust what he's saying in the moment to get those applause lines. And so he had a crowd in front of him that probably was the most hardcore, you know, stop the steal, you know, election truthers that actually believe the election was stolen and he knew we could get an applause line like that.

So that makes him feel good on the stage because everybody loves to be applauded. But that's doing real damage to the campaign. And so, you know, from my perspective, keep doing it because it's not going to be helping him. But just from a Republican perspective, I'm sure his staff was shaking their head and just like, you know, Mr. President, you got to stop doing that kind of stuff. But he won't. He'll keep doing it.

DEAN: It is an interesting strategy in Georgia, a state that he would really do well to win and to go after a very popular Republican there. Congressman Adam Kinzinger, as always, thanks so much for being with us. We appreciate it.

KINZINGER: You bet. Yep. Take care.

DEAN: We are following some breaking news as Tropical Storm Debby is expected to dump a tremendous historic amount of rain on the southeast. The storm is expected to make landfall in just a few hours as a hurricane. We'll talk more about it when we come back.

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DEAN: Breaking news off the Florida Gulf Coast, evacuation orders now in effect for thousands as Tropical Storm Debby nears. That storm is forecasted to quickly pick up strength in the next few hours, becoming a Category One hurricane. It's expected to make landfall tomorrow morning near the Big Bend region of Florida.

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And that was Orlando this afternoon as one of the first of many squalls blew through. Debby is forecast to dump a tremendous amount of rain as it moves north. Meteorologist Chad Myers is in our weather center and CNN's Rafael Romo is following the storm preparations throughout that region. Chad, let's start first with you. The latest on this storm, its track and all of this rain that it's likely going to dump on so many parts of the U.S.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Really, Jessica, what I'm watching is that the 5:00 advisory that just came in did not strengthen the storm at all. We're still 65 miles per hour, and that's great news because this storm has been that intensity now for the past six, pretty much not gaining in strength. And that's great because this is very warm water, probably as good of water as this is going to get in.

But now as the sun sets, I believe that the eye will really develop into a hurricane's eye, beginning to see the radar here. You can see it from Tampa.

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If you want to watch from home, you can actually use the Tampa radar to see exactly where that center of circulation is now. But as the storm moves onshore later on tonight into tomorrow in the big bend of Florida up to the north, we will see the threat of tornadoes.

Tornado watches right now are in effect. And yes, if you see a little pink box there, tornado warnings are in effect. These storms are rotating as they come off of the Gulf of Mexico. They're not large tornadoes, they're not EF3 or EF4 tornadoes, but they can still do damage.

This is what the wind has already done to Fort Myers Beach, blowing the wind and the water already onshore a couple of feet deep, maybe even three in some spots. They don't need this in Fort Myers Beach, that is for sure.

But farther to the north, this is where the real problem is going to be. Eight to 10 feet of saltwater inundation in an area here from about St. Mark's all the way down to Cedar Key are pretty close. And that's the area that's going to see that that influx of water. And then it's going to rain. And it's going to rain for days because this storm isn't going to move very much.

It will likely be a hurricane that landfall, likely somewhere around 85 plus or minus 10 percent, could be plus 20 percent if it really gets its stuff together overnight. But for now, I don't think that that is likely the case. We'll have to see if you wake up tomorrow when it's 100 mile per hour storm. That's still certainly a possibility.

The threat with this is wind, yes, and surge, yes. But over the next about 72 to even more than that hours, it is going to rain heavily. We are going to see significant flooding from this storm, 10 to 15 inches of rainfall in places that are already pretty wet. So it is going to be a flash flood storm for sure, Jessica.

DEAN: All right. Chad Myers, thank you for that update. Let's go now to Rafael Romo, who is there watching, monitoring all of these preparations. Rafael, what are you saying?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Jessica, in the last couple of hours, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said his government has requested a federal disaster declaration, adding that it has been approved. 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. South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster has done the same in his state.

These actions, Jessica, tell you a lot about the concern authorities have about a potentially devastating impact of Tropical Storm Debby here in the southeastern Florida. Several coastal counties located in the Big Bend region are under mandatory evacuation orders, and others have issued voluntary evacuation orders. In his latest message to the state of Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis said everybody should be aware that the storm is expected to intensify. Let's take a listen.

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RON DESANTIS, GOVERNOR OF FLORIDA: It's a tropical storm now. It's possible that you could have serious intensification between now and landfall. It could get up to 85, 90, 95 mile an hour sustained wind. And that is absolutely possible, particularly in parts of the state like here in Tallahassee. There's going to be a lot of trees that are going to fall down. You're going to have debris. You are going to have power interruptions. So just prepare for that. If you're in the path of the storm, assume that that's going to happen.

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ROMO: Jessica, earlier, Governor DeSantis said the Florida National Guard is standing by with 3,000 service members who will be ready to assist the state emergency response team in South Carolina and here in Georgia. The National Hurricane Center is predicting 10 to 20 inches of rainfall through Friday morning. Back to you.

DEAN: All right. Rafael Romo with the latest on that. Thanks so much. Also, the tensions rising in the Middle East, hitting another concerning spike this weekend as Israel and Hezbollah continue to trade attacks there on the northern border, prompting growing concerns that those actions could lead to a regional war. You're in the "CNN Newsroom."

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DEAN: Secretary of State Tony Blinken today speaking with G7 foreign ministers amid fears of a wider war in the Middle East. Blinken emphasizing the need for all sides to calm rising tensions. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is tonight warning Iran that Israel will, quote, "respond and exact a heavy price against any attacks." Iran has vowed to retaliate following the killing of a top Hamas official in Tehran last week, blaming Israel for that attack. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied involvement.

And happening overnight, Israel and Hezbollah again exchanging attacks across the northern Israel border with Lebanon. Israel, saying it struck a rocket launcher in southern Lebanon after intercepting 30 projectiles. Let's go now to CNN's Jeremy Diamond who is live in Haifa for us. And Jeremy, tell us more kind of about the state of play at this moment as everyone is waiting to see how this unfolds.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Waiting to see in the Israeli military, Jessica, is actively preparing not only to potentially defend Israel from a multi-front attack by Iran and its proxies, as has now been threatened, but also preparing the potential retaliatory actions that Israel might take in the event of an Iranian attack on Israeli soil, which would be only the second ever open Iranian attack on Israeli soil in history.

The Israeli military on a heightened state of alert with the top military spokesman Daniel Hagari saying that they are reviewing potential retaliatory actions.

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But at this hour, there is still no change in that home front command guidance issued to Israeli civilians to warn them of potential attacks. But several cities, including Haifa, where we are now, Jerusalem as well, those municipalities already urging residents to begin to take the preparations to stock up their bomb shelters, to stock up on essential goods, and prepare for that potential coming action.

As all of this is happening, there's also a lot of rhetoric coming out, and part of that is about the Israeli prime minister, for example, projecting strength in the face of a possible Iranian attack, warning that Israel will exact a -- quote -- "very heavy price" on Iran should it choose to respond. Some of that is also intended to try and make Iran recalculate, rethink what it is preparing to potentially carry out in terms of an attack on Israel and also, of course, projecting future actions that the Israeli government may take.

We are already seeing flights being canceled to Tel Aviv, in and out of Tel Aviv. And in Lebanon, American citizens and citizens of other foreign countries being urged to get out of Lebanon now as this region is really very much on the edge of a potentially major escalation.

But as all of this is happening, the Israeli military is certainly not abating its actions in Gaza. We witnessed today yet another very, very deadly strike. More than 30 people were killed when the Israeli military struck two schools in western Gaza City that's in the northern part -- excuse me, of the Gaza Strip, where hundreds of civilians were sheltering. At least 30 people were killed. More than 50 others were injured.

And while the Israeli military says that it took steps to try and minimize civilian casualties there, the images that we are seeing of that strike are absolutely devastating yet again. Many children included in the dead and the wounded from that strike.

And we should note that this is not the first time that Israel has carried out a strike on a school compound. They say they were targeting Hamas terrorists, who they say were operating a command and control center in those two schools. But as we can see from these images, these devastating images, civilians were impacted, very severely impacted by these strikes as well. Jessica?

DEAN: All right. Jeremy Diamond with the latest reporting for us, thanks so much.

And let's talk more about this. We're seeing a national security analyst, Beth Sanner. She's the former deputy director for National Intelligence. Beth, great to have you here with us this afternoon.

Back in April, Iran really telegraphed its attack, which Israel, along with the help of U.S. and other allies, was able to defend itself against pretty successfully, very successfully. I think a lot of people are wondering what this attack from Iran might look like and how it might be different or not different from that one.

BETH SANNER, FORMER DEPUTY DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: Yeah, this is the million-dollar question. Is this going to be performative or is it going to be really, really serious? And I lean toward the serious side, even though I think that, you know, when you look at the strikes that Israel took, they were designed to deter Iran from taking a very serious strike. I mean, they used intelligence, they got in there, they did this incredible thing. And Netanyahu's warning today also designed to deter.

But Hezbollah and Iran have been humiliated. Their intelligence has been completely penetrated, and they worry that if they don't retaliate, that they will lose the support of the rank and file and they will lose the ability to deter Iran from -- from attacking them again more in the future. So, I think that they have to do something pretty big. And unlike last time in April, it probably will look like a lot more coming from Hezbollah and maybe the other proxies in addition to Iran.

DEAN: Right. And just -- so people were looking at a map now, but -- but those proxies are on various borders there with Israel, in addition to Iran, of course, which is -- which is farther away from Israel.

We know that the U.S. has sent a number of fresh military assets to the Middle East in advance of any strike. How do you think that if it is factoring into Iran's decision, kind of how they're calibrating what they might do?

SANNER: Right. I mean, it's clearly a deterrence, but at the same time, I think that Iran doesn't expect the United States to directly strike it if it attacks Israel. We were are there to shoot things down, to provide added air defenses, but we are not going to, and I think the Biden administration actually has pretty much said this out loud. So, you know, I think that, yes, it helps on air defenses, but I'm not sure how much it helps on actually deterring Iran.

DEAN: Uh-hmm. And there is deep concern among U.S. officials and others that this situation is closer than ever to developing into a full-out war in that region. What is your opinion?

[17:35:00]

SANNER: Well, look, I think that we already have a regional war in which the United States is directly involved. We are shooting down Houthi missiles. We are (INAUDIBLE) directly in Iraq and Syria this past week when they attacked us. We are -- you know, we are involved in this war, but it could definitely get worse.

And I think that, you know, really Netanyahu's actions here do show that, you know, where his head is at is it's a complete disconnect between U.S. objectives and interests in this region and what Netanyahu wants.

DEAN: And just before -- I just want to clarify, sorry, I thought we lost your signal there for one second, but what would those two things be? What is competing? What are those two competing interests?

SANNER: Right. Well, look, I mean, the United States wants this war to end quickly. They want the hostages back, and they want to put -- use that to put the region on a path to long term stability, including a two-state solution. Netanyahu clearly does not want a ceasefire quickly with hostage releases. Otherwise, he would not have killed the chief negotiator. His interests are to continue this war. And he basically has used, in my view -- look, Haniyeh is not a moderate. The guy they killed in Tehran, not a moderate. I disagree with that. He's a terrorist. But this will turn out to be very counterproductive to U.S. interests because we are now on the cusp of a regional war rather than being on the cusp of a hostage deal that could lead to a long-term solution. Our interests are not aligned.

DEAN: Hmm. All right. Beth Sanner, as always, thank you so much. We appreciate it.

SANNER: Thanks, Jessica.

DEAN: Still ahead, the delicate balancing act. One Democratic senator is walking right now between acknowledging Vice President Harris's candidacy and winning over some Trump voters in a race that could determine control of the Senate. More on the other side here in the "CNN Newsroom."

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DEAN: This November, Democrats are fighting to keep control of the Senate majority, and with several senators at risk of losing their seats, many are asking if the vice president, Kamala Harris, will help or hurt those down ballot races. CNN's Manu Raju visited the swing state of Ohio, where Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown is facing a tough reelection battle.

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MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As Democrats rally behind Kamala Harris, in red states, it's more complicated, like in Ohio, where Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown faces a stiff challenge from Trump-backed Republican Bernie Moreno, a race central to the fight for the Senate majority.

Are you able to defend Kamala Harris?

SEN. SHERROD BROWN (D-OH): My job is to fight for Ohio workers. You can talk about presidential race. That's your job. My job --

RAJU: I don't have an impact on this race.

BROWN: That's your opinion. I know that what will matter is people vote for me because I stand up for workers and will continue to fight for workers.

RAJU: Ohio has become a GOP stronghold, with Trump carrying the state in 2020 by eight points and a heavy favorite this fall. Plus, Brown is trying to defy this daunting trend. In 68 of the 69 Senate races in 2016 and 2020, voters elected a senator from the same party as their preferred presidential candidate.

You backed much of the Harris Biden agenda, so how hard is that going to be to run that far ahead of the top of the ticket?

BROWN: As you know, and as I've said, I'm not a pundit, I'm not a commentator. I don't think of politics as left or right. I think of it as whose side you're on. You know, Highlands know I've been on their side.

RAJU: Will you campaign with Kamala Harris if she comes here?

BROWN: I don't -- I have not. I mean, I have not. I've got my own schedule. She's got her own schedule. I will focus on my race. My strategy is perhaps different from hers. Talking about the differences on abortion rights and on minimum wage between Bernie Moreno and me and how I fight every day for the dignity of work.

RAJU (voice-over): With Joe Manchin retiring in West Virginia, Democrats likely have to run the table to keep the Senate at 50-50, hoping to hang on to two of their three seats in red states and all six of their competitive seats. In Ohio, Democrats have poured in nearly $50 million on TV ads since March, including $25 million from Brown's campaign, compared to less than $1 million for Moreno's.

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UNKNOWN (voice-over): Being a car dealer worked out well for Bernie Moreno. But what's it like to work for him?

RAJU (voice-over): Brown's focus, Moreno's ownership of 55 car dealerships and a court fight that forced the Republican to pay more than $400,000 to two former employees, plus 14 other settlements.

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BERNIE MORENO, OHIO SENATE REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE: We followed the law always. We did absolutely nothing wrong.

RAJU (voice-over): Saying of Brown --

MORENO: The only tool he's got in his toolbox is to disparage me. I'm extraordinarily proud of the company I built.

RAJU: But if you were ordered to pay back money, $410,000, you must have got something wrong, no?

MORENO: Well, that's what that jury decided. I disagree with the verdict. We paid it.

RAJU (voice-over): Moreno now hoping to ride the coattails of Trump and fellow Ohioan J.D. Vance, speaking at the GOP convention.

MORENO: A vote for Trump and Moreno is a vote to put America first.

RAJU (voice-over): As Brown has no plans to go to his.

We go to the convention.

BROWN: He's back on the commission. I've often skipped conventions.

[17:45:00]

I don't plan to.

RAJU (voice-over): Moreno says there's a reason why Brown is keeping his distance.

What impact does Kamala Harris have down ticket in this race?

MORENO: Oh, it helps me tremendously. So, maybe Scranton Joe had a little bit of credibility here in Ohio. San Francisco, Kamala absolutely does not.

RAJU (voice-over): Moreno has been so aligned with Trump that he even cut a 2022 ad accusing big tech of rigging the 2020 election.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MORENO: President Trump says the election was stolen, and he's right.

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RAJU: But why did you decide to do that in the primary? Cut an ad saying the election was stolen.

MORENO: Well, it said it was rigged, like I just said, because it was true.

RAJU: Do you think that Biden was legitimately elected?

MORENO: He's legitimately the worst president of the United States. Absolutely.

RAJU: Legitimately elected.

MORENO: Legitimately the worst president of the United States. His reign of terror in America is almost over.

RAJU (voice-over): To defy the odds, Democrats planning a familiar playbook, hammering Moreno on abortion.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Absolute pro-life, no exception.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Can you still support a 15-week federal abortion ban?

MORENO: Ban is a word that the media and the Democrats use. I've never said the word "ban."

RAJU: If you had to vote for a 15-week restriction, would you do that? MORENO: Yeah. Common sense restrictions, sure.

RAJU (voice-over): Brown, meantime, has been on the defensive on immigration.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Ohio knows illegal immigration is a problem, and Brown is the cause.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU (voice-over): As he criticizes the GOP for blocking a bipartisan border security bill --

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BROWN: We're here to call the president to step up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU (voice-over): -- Brown also blames the Biden team.

Do you think that the Biden and Harris administration have done a good job at the border?

BROWN: I think presidents of both parties have failed at the border.

RAJU (voice-over): All as the GOP aims to remind voters of Brown's past rhetoric about Trump.

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BROWN: We have a president who's a racist.

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RAJU: Do you stand by the past rhetoric about Trump?

BROWN: There's -- there's no room in American politics for divisive rhetoric. And I will continue to speak out against the kind of divisive rhetoric we've seen.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN: That was Manu Raju reporting for us in Ohio. Thanks so much to him. A triathlon team is dropping out of Olympic competition after one of its athletes got sick. And wait until you hear why.

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[17:50:00]

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DEAN: A big day nine for Team USA at the Olympics in Paris. The U.S. dominating in the overall medal count over China and France. Just last hour, American track star Noah Lyles adding his first gold medal to that tally and an incredible photo finish to the 100-meter dash.

We're also learning the triathlon mixed relay race will go ahead tomorrow, despite an athlete falling ill days after swimming in the Seine, causing Belgium to pull out of the event completely.

CNN's Coy Wire and Melissa Bell, both live in Paris for us. Melissa, let's start first with you. Officials saying the water quality in the Seine will be acceptable for tomorrow. What are you hearing?

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, until now, what we've seen, Jessica, was authorities announcing in the early hours of the morning whether or not these races in the River Seine were going to take place.

In order to answer some of the criticism, Paris 2024 have announced even now that this relay race will go ahead tomorrow but, of course, without two of the triathletes who had taken part in last week's individual races, both a Belgian athlete falling ill with the entire team, as you said, Jessica, now putting out, but also a Swiss athlete that we know has gastro -- gastric condition, illness that is preventing him from taking part. They've changed their lineup.

We don't know for sure whether these illnesses are linked to the races that took place in the Seine River, but there have been a lot of questions about whether this was a wise decision on the part of Paris authorities. It is the water levels, the rain that affects the bacteria levels in the River Seine. Some days it's possible to do it, some days it's not. Tomorrow, the relay race will go ahead regardless, and they say the water quality is such that it can. But, of course, lots of questions now as a result of these two athletes getting ill so quickly after their dip in the Seine, Jessica.

DEAN: All right, Melissa Bell, thank you for that update. Coy, I was letting that all soak, the swimming and what the river might be like, but give us some of the highlights from today.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: First of all, I'm going to bone pick with you, Jessica. How are you going to put me on a split screen with Melissa Bell? I mean, she is Paris --

DEAN: I know.

WIRE: -- and you're going to let me go after her intrepid reporting. And -- I mean, come on, what is this? Who's producing this show?

DEAN: She is Paris, I know.

(LAUGHTER)

WIRE: America's Noah Lyles has solidified himself as the fastest man on the planet. When I talked to him ahead of these games, Jessica, he said he already knew he was. This was just more for everybody else. And now, a 20-year drought in the men's 100 meters for the USA is over. Years of training for about a 10-second moment came down to that photo finish.

Jamaica's 23-year-old Kishane Thompson thought he won. But after about 15 seconds, it was determined that Lyles out leaned him at the line. Personal best 9.79 seconds, just five one thousandths of a second ahead of Thompson. USA's Fred Kerley took bronze as well.

Lyles didn't win his qualifier or the semifinal, but when it mattered, he delivered. He's the first American man to win the 100 meters since Justin Gatlin 20 years ago.

And in his fifth Olympics, Novak Djokovic has finally snagged the one thing that seemed to elude him. Winning gold for the first time, he beat Carlos Alcaraz in a seven-six, seven-six thriller at Roland Garros. And at 37 years old, Joker has become the oldest man to ever win a singles gold.

American swimmer Bobby Finke defending his title, setting a new world record in the 1,500- meter free of 1430.67 seconds.

[17:55:01]

He's back to back, Bobby. And he put the entire men's program on his back. This was the first individual gold for the American men at these games in the pool. And he did it on their very last race.

Finally, Ukraine's Yaroslava Mahuchikh will be bringing a high jump gold back home, and it'll be a huge moment. For a while now, she has been without a home. When the war started, she piled as much as she could into her car, left as quickly as she could, lived in Portugal, Poland, Belgium, Estonia, Germany, just to name a few of the places she's had to train. And despite all the frustration and pain, Jessica, of what's happening in her home country, her commitment has paid off, an Olympic champion for Ukraine. It's their second of these games.

DEAN: Amazing. All right, Coy Wire in Paris with Melissa Bell, of course, thank you so much. We appreciate you both. We'll be right back.

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[18:00:00]

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