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More Than 20 Million Under Tropical Storm Alerts As Tropical Storm Debby Intensifies; Kamala Harris Looks For Competence, Chemistry And Core Values In VP Pick; Democrats' "Weird" Attack On J.D. Vance May Have Sticking Power; US Stock Futures Trading Lower; Georgia Women Voters, Race Is "Going to Get Crazy" Now That Biden Dropped Out And Harris is Running; COVID-19 On The Rise In US. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired August 04, 2024 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:01:53]

JESSICA DEAN, CNN ANCHOR: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jessica Dean in New York, and we begin with breaking news.

More than 20 million people are under tropical storm alerts tonight as Debby is rapidly picking up power. The storm is forecast to reach hurricane status in the next few hours and make landfall near the Big Bend area of Florida in the morning. Flooding has already begun and more is on the way. Forecasters are saying historic heavy rain will pose the biggest danger with the storm. Officials warning people in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina about floods, power outages, and even tornadoes.

Meteorologist Chad Myers is tracking Debby in the CNN Weather Center. CNN's Rafael Romo is following the storm preps.

Chad, talk to us first about the latest on Debby.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: The latest right now is that the Tampa Bay area is picking up a tremendous amount of rainfall with flash flooding ongoing. It is now considerable flash flood event here all the way from Clearwater, all the way down toward Naples and Venice, there's so much water falling out of the sky. You can begin to see the purple right there along the coast.

Those are the highest cloud tops, the most moisture laden storms right now. Be careful if you're going to be out and I recommend don't even go out in the area of western parts of Florida there. And there's the center of the circulation, more and more developed every single hour that I look at it on the radar. And this will certainly be a hurricane by landfall. Not that it matters because there's going to be so many other things going on, including the potential for landfalling waterspouts, small tornadoes on land here in parts of Florida.

Every time a big storm comes on shore, that is going to have the potential to put down obviously rain. But also if it's spinning a tornado or two, not big ones, but big enough that they can do damage. Remember, all the tornadoes that Beryl put down, like more than 50, but the surge, the saltwater surge into the Big Bend area. Cedar Key, Steinhatchee, all the way up here to St. Marks. That's going to be the dangerous area you need to be away from the water here.

If that water surge is 10 feet higher and you're only four feet above sea level I don't have to tell you, I'd do the math there. So yes, it will be an 85 maybe even 95 mile per hour hurricane as it makes landfall. 12 to 16 hours from right now. The slower it goes, the longer it stays over waters. So the bigger and stronger it will get. We do know that there's going to be a tremendous amount of rainfall, 10 to 15 in some spots. The models were putting out 20 inches of rain over the next two to three days.

And this is even Tuesday where it's still raining so heavily that flash flood watches will likely be issued. Flash flood warnings will certainly be issued. Ten to 15 inches of rainfall in a wide swath like this.

Jessica, this is going to be a flood event. Yes, there'll be wind, but this is kind of the same place that we had a big hurricane go in last year. So this is going to be a storm surge push that water in. It's not going to be a knock every tree down type of storm. But boy, when you see this kind of rainfall, this widespread all the way up the East Coast, that's going to be the story.

DEAN: Yes, that's serious stuff. All right. Chad Myers, thanks so much.

Let's go now to CNN's Rafael Romo. He is following how people in the storm's path are preparing.

[19:05:03]

And Rafael, Chad just laid it out. It's a big chunk of land that this is going to go over.

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's absolutely right, Jessica, and cities across the southeast, specifically in Florida, here in Georgia and South Carolina are getting ready for the impact of this storm. 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 also in South Carolina, Governor Henry McMaster has done the same in his state. Charleston is expecting up to 18 inches of rain which could cause life-threatening floodwaters and flash flooding. And in Florida, several coastal counties from St. Petersburg and Tampa all the way up to Panama City and Panama City Beach are under either mandatory or voluntary evacuation orders, especially those people who live in coastal or low-lying areas.

In the last hour, we heard from Charleston Mayor William Cogswell, who said that this storm may bring historic levels of rain to his city with predictions ranging between 10 to 20 inches over the course of the next few days with the potential to reach up to 30 inches in specific areas.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MAYOR WILLIAM COGSWELL, CITY OF CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA: This unprecedented amount of rainfall poses a real risk of life-threatening flash flooding across Charleston. Residents must take immediate precautions. Please remain indoors and avoid any unnecessary travel. Roads and areas that do not typically flood are expected to be impacted, perhaps severely so.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: Meanwhile, Jessica, and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis earlier said that he's activated both the Florida National and State Guards to be ready for rescue and humanitarian assistance. The Florida National Guard alone is standing by with 3,000 service members who will be ready to assist the state emergency response team at any moment -- Jessica.

DEAN: All right. Rafael Romo with the latest reporting on those preparations. Thanks so much.

Let's turn now to the race for 2024. We are less than 48 hours away from Vice President Kamala Harris introducing a running mate for the very first time at a campaign event in Philadelphia. As she prepares to make this critical decision, she's meeting with at least three top VP contenders today, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, and Arizona Senator Mark Kelly.

CNN's Eva McKend has been keeping an eye on all the comings and goings outside the vice president's residence there in Washington, D.C.

Eva, what have you seen today and what are you learning?

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: You know, Jessica, at this hour we know that the vice president is principally concerned about finding a governing partner and someone that can help her deliver these key battleground states so she's having these one-on-one conversations with Shapiro, with Kelly, with Walz. You know, today, we believe that we saw Governor Shapiro's motorcade. We saw a motorcade passed by here with Pennsylvania plates and was similar to what we saw when he left Pennsylvania earlier today, though we're not entirely sure.

Then we all so saw Eric Holder. He of course is the former Obama era attorney general and he is involved in this vetting process. He is overseeing a team of attorneys that are briefing the vice president that have been engaged in this vigorous vetting process of these finalists.

You know, Jess, this all comes as a CBS poll released today shows that Harris and former president Donald Trump are in a statistical tie with Harris at 50 percent and Trump at 49 percent. And that really illustrates how this Democratic shake-up of the ticket has changed the race entirely. You have Democrats feeling extremely motivated to vote for Harris, not just against Trump.

DEAN: And Eva, the Harris campaign also just launching this new grassroots effort to win over anti-Trump Republicans, they're calling it Republicans for Harris. What more can you tell us about that?

MCKEND: Now, Jessica, this stuck out to me because you don't sort of see a similar effort on the other side. You don't sort of see Democrats for Trump, for instance, and so that tells me that Democrats see a real opportunity here with these anti-Trumpers, with folks, for instance, in the key battleground state of Georgia in 2022, who did not support Trump-endorsed candidates. They think that they can bring them over by employing this strategy of having a high profile Republicans out there basically telling other Republicans that it is OK to support Harris, that this contest is primarily about the Constitution, about democracy, and bringing them into the fold.

[19:10:12]

And they say that they're willing to invest in this strategy. They have a digital ad out called "Unity" and that ad is explicitly aimed to get those Nikki Haley voters, to get those Republican primary voters, Jess, that supported her and not him, just a few months ago.

DEAN: Right. Right. Right. Right. All right, Eva McKend, with the latest reporting there. Thanks so much.

Joining us now to discuss more Margaret Talev. She's the senior contributor at Axios and director of Institute for Democracy, Journalism, and Citizenship at Syracuse University.

Margaret, always good to see you. Thanks for being with us on this Sunday evening. As -- yes. As Eva just laid out, we know that Harris is at the end of this process, that she's interviewing some of these contenders in person today. What's on the line with the decision for Harris here?

MARGARET TALEV, SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR, AXIOS: I mean, it's often said that running mates aren't statistically that important. And I know the Harris team wants us all to be focused on her search for a governing partner, which assumes that she would win the election. But the fact is right now she's looking for someone who can help her win the election, and that's really what we see in the pool that we believe to be either the three finalists or at least among the three finalists, whether it's Governor Shapiro from Pennsylvania, Governor Walz from Minnesota, or Senator Mark Kelly from Arizona.

And you're looking in those cases and then a couple other folks who made the finalist list at people who in Shapiro's case is very popular in Pennsylvania. It's a must-win state for Harris with 19 electoral votes. But there are questions about whether as much as he could help in Pennsylvania, could he be a liability if you add Michigan and Wisconsin together. That's more than 19 electoral votes.

Senator Kelly and Governor Walz both have military experience. Senator Kelly has been to space. He's married to Gabby Giffords, who of course has been sort of this couple, this power couple in terms of leading gun regulation efforts in the U.S. And then Walz is sort of come from behind in recent days because his charisma, his background as a high school teacher and football coach, and his Midwestern appeal when Harris is going to have to be running against Republican monikers of San Francisco liberal, we've heard all the talking points, Walz offers a really clear counterpoint to that.

So in the end, and it does matter who she feels most comfortable with also, in the end tells us that their running mate may not make a huge difference, but we really are in unchartered territory in so many ways with this campaign. They're trying to get it right on a pretty tough deadline.

DEAN: Yes. On a very condensed deadline. Just to remind people usually a vetting process like this takes months. This has been done in a very, very compressed timeline.

And Margaret, you know, typically when we get to the end of a veepstakes, when we're nearing the end and a decision is imminent, you see all of the last-minute chattering and swaying and people out there trying to affect the decision in one way or another. We see "Politico" reporting that Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman has expressed concerns about Josh Shapiro. There was actually -- I can read you a bit of it.

Fetterman's advisers suggested to Harris' his team that the senator believes that Shapiro is he excessively focused on his own personal ambitions. His reservations about Shapiro reflect a long-running rivalry between the two ambitious Democrats.

It is interesting to see someone from Pennsylvania, but, look, there are all these things at play, right? Like all of these, what does it mean to each of these politicians for their future. What is this last- minute angling say to you?

TALEV: In some ways it's really a contrast to how Harris clinched the nomination. We certainly expected when President Biden said that he was not going to run again that there might be a real free-for-all. That was mostly contained behind the scenes with donors and lawmakers and other members of Congress kind of jockeying should everyone rally around Kamala Harris or should they have an open primary.

That got wrapped up really quickly. Now, this is where all the tension is coming at the last minute, which is the right vice presidential candidate. Some of the concerns are personal or because of their personal relationships. Others really are just strategic and tactical. The Democratic Party really wants to block Donald Trump from ascending to another term as president.

And one of the interesting side notes of this is the idea that former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has had nice things to say about Governor Walz, although Pelosi is emerita now, she's still one of the most important voices in the Democratic Party in terms of strategy and all of this weighing in from members of Congress, former members of Congress, people who have worked with all these various folks.

[19:15:16]

I think this is not just about their personal relationships with these individuals, it is trying to give the vice president, Vice President Harris and her team feedback on a very, very compressed, high-stakes timeline. DEAN: Yes. And in the end, it is of course her decision to make and

she will be the one to make it and it will be interesting to see what that is, who she's been listening to and then we'll be off to the races looking toward the Democratic National Convention.

Just quickly before I let you go, I just did want to note these new CBS News polls that show -- that Eva was talking about, that show how tight this race is, especially in the battleground states.

And Margaret, this is a real race. This is going to be hard fought on both sides and we don't have much time but, you know, it is interesting to see this race tighten.

TALEV: Hundred percent. And if this was October 15th Trump's campaign would be completely freaking out. There are still many, many weeks to go, but this could potentially put Georgia in play. It puts Michigan and Wisconsin closer than thought, perhaps even Arizona. It's something for Trump to be nervous about. And that's I think in part why you saw him acting out sort of in the last couple of days at his rally over the weekend.

DEAN: Yes. All right. Margaret, always great to have you on. Thanks so much. We appreciate it.

TALEV: Thank you.

DEAN: Still ahead, the Harris campaign working hard to define Trump and his vice presidential pick, J.D. Vance.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And you may have noticed, Donald Trump has been resorting to some wild lies about my record and some of what he and his running mate are saying, well, it's just plain weird.

And by the way, don't you find some of their stuff to just be plain weird?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: How Vance is now responding and what the numbers show about if weird is sticking with voters. Plus another summer COVID surge. Dr. Sanjay Gupta is on call answering your questions. And a weak jobs report sent a tremor through Wall Street that the powerful jobs market may finally be slowing down. We're going to break down what it means for you.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:21:59]

DEAN: This just in to CNN, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro back at his home outside Philadelphia. This as we await a decision about who Vice President Kamala Harris will choose as her running mate. He is one of the finalists. He met with the vice president earlier today so we will see who she ultimately picks. He along with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, all meeting with the vice president today as she nears her decision on who her running mate will be.

Also new today, Trump running mate Senator J.D. Vance is responding to the Harris campaign's attack against him, calling him weird. Vance going on FOX News saying Democrats are, quote, "projecting." So we can sum that up. Vance basically said, I'm not weird. You're weird. But Harry Enten reports there is evidenced suggesting the Harris campaign's new favorite tagline could be working.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA CORRESPONDENT: Jessica, oftentimes in politics there are attacks that are lobbed from one side to the other and they go up in smoke like nothing else. But sometimes an attack seems to have some holding power, some staying power, you might say. And the attacks on J.D. Vance and Donald Trump from Democrats that they are, quote-unquote, "weird," may be one of those examples.

Let's take a look at some Google trends over the past, let's say, 10 days and the last five days. And this is Google searches for the term or word weird. And we're going to compare what we've seen over the last 10 days and the last five days versus the last three months. And what do we see? We see that over the last 10 days? Searches for the word weird on Google are up 20 percent. How about over the last five days, look at this. They're up 28 percent.

So it does seem like more people are searching for the word weird. The question is why. Because the fact is anything could be weird. In fact, many people might say that I myself am weird. But interestingly enough, we can actually figure out what are the words or topics that are being searched increasingly with the word weird. And look here, look at the topics increasingly being searched with the word weird angle.

Look at them. They're all political, look, you got Tim Walz over there who was the first one to actually call J.D. Vance and Donald Trump weird. And then look at the rest of them. MAGA, Make America Great Again, how about the Republican Party? And then there's of course, J.D. Vance. So what we do in fact see is that more people are searching for the word weird and they're searching for the word weird why? Because they're searching for increasingly with, let's say some terms and some words that perhaps the Republican Party doesn't really like.

But Tim Walz, who of course started those attacks on the GOP, really like. Of course, people might just be searching for the word weird and associating with Republicans. You might not be seeing too much of an impact. So I was very interested in this little nugget here. Take a look at J.D. Vance's net favorable rating. We're going to look at it mid-July, right around the time of the convention or just thereafter and then compare it to what we see this week.

Look, J.D. Vance has never been exactly popular. In fact, he was the least popular VP nominee coming out of his party's convention on record, going all the way back since 1980, the first one to negative territory, you can see that in the ABC News-Ipsos poll here, with a minus six point net favorability rating. But somehow his net favorable ratings have gotten even worse.

[19:25:03]

Look at over this past week, look at this. In the AP-NORC poll, minus 13 points from minus five points. The ABC News-Ipsos poll from minus six points to minus 15 points. And while we don't necessarily know that the, quote-unquote, "weird" attacks are actually the ones that are driving this they are certainly not helping. So it does seem to me that these weird attacks might be having somewhat of an impact. Much of the detriment of the GOP.

Jessica, back to you.

DEAN: All right, Harry, thank you so much.

Still ahead, you keep hearing former president Trump claim over and over that immigrants are taking American jobs. But is it true? We're going to fact check it. That's up next.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:30:01]

DEAN: It wasn't a great week for stock. Let's take a look at the stock market futures ahead of tomorrow's trading. You see red for all three of the major industries, the Dow, NASDAQ, and S&P 500.

This after Friday's Jobs Report sent a jolt of fear through the markets. Let's talk to CNN economics commentator Catherine Rampell.

Catherine, always great to see you. Thanks for being with us on this Sunday evening. Now, the job market has obviously been a real cornerstone of strength for this economy. This report took some people by surprise and I know -- I've read some of your thoughts on this. It sounds like it's the trend that is what's really worrisome here.

CATHERINE RAMPELL, CNN ECONOMICS COMMENTATOR: Right, if you look at the raw numbers just to sort of a snapshot in time, 4.3 percent, unemployment is actually quite low by historical standards. And even the level of job growth, it's positive, it's relatively strong, and it's just not as strong as it has in the last couple of years.

So, the real worry is not what the job market looks like now, it's that these trends are moving in the wrong direction. We don't want unemployment to get even higher given that it's been rising for each of the past four months. We don't want job growth to slow more or let alone, of course, turn into job losses.

So, that is really the worry here. How much has the economy cooled down and will it continue to cool or slow down even more?

DEAN: And then help us understand the connectivity here to the Fed and interest rates and how that ties into this.

RAMPELL: Sure. So the Federal Reserve met earlier this week before this Jobs Report came out and there had been a number of other reports indicating that the economy might be slowing, but not quite as concerning as this one. So, when the Fed met this week, Chairman Jay Powell basically said he needed to see more data before another interest rate cut would be justified.

Well, we got the data right after they finished meeting, now it does look like a cut is in the cards. So, the Fed met, decided to keep things as they were and strongly signaled that they were going to cut interest rates at their subsequent meeting, which is in September. Now, that looks all but a certainty and the only question really about their next meeting is not -- if they will cut, but rather how much they will cut.

Will they make a more aggressive decision and cut interest rates, for example, by a full, half a percentage point rather than the usual quarter of a percentage point. We'll just have to wait and see.

DEAN: Yes, and some are second guessing the Federal, saying they waited too long, including Senator Elizabeth Warren. She certainly had called on them to cut these rates sooner, saying Fed Chair Powell made a serious mistake, not cutting interest rates. He has been warned over and over again, that waiting too long, risk driving the economy into the ditch. The jobs data is flashing red. Powell needs to cancel his summer vacation and cut rates now, not six weeks.

It's worth noting, the Fed is independent of politics and doesn't take any orders from any sort of elected officials. But do you agree with her sentiment there?

RAMPELL: I would take Senator Warren's opinions on his with a little bit of a grain of salt. She has basically been critical of the Fed for raising interest rates in the first place. Whereas, the usual criticism of the Fed is that maybe they waited too long to raise interest rates.

That said, I do think it's reasonable to be concerned that they waited too long to raise them when inflation was high and maybe they've waited a little bit too long to go back to cutting them. And I think that there are a lot of voices out there, not just Senator Warren's that are saying, look guys, the economy is cooling. It's time to take your foot off the brake. Just start cutting interest rates to start stimulating the economy a little bit.

And my guess is that the officials at the Federal Reserve also believe they're a little bit behind the curve, at least if you just look at this Jobs Report, that said they will get more data between now and September. There will be another Jobs Report, among other indicators on inflation for example.

And so again, I think another cut is coming and they may be playing catch-up at their next meeting because maybe they agree that they should have restarted stimulating the economy earlier.

DEAN: All right, Catherine Rampell, great to see you, thanks so much for that.

RAMPELL: Thank you.

DEAN: Still ahead, the Harris and Trump campaigns zeroing in on the state of Georgia. We're going to talk to women voters in that very important battleground state about the issues and who they'll be voting for in November. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:39:21]

DEAN: Just four years ago, President Biden won Georgia by less than 12,000 votes and now its once again a battleground state. This week our Randi Kaye went back to Macon, Georgia to talk with a group of female voters for a third time to see what they think of the race now that Harris has replaced Biden on the Democratic ticket. Here is Randi's report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EMILY AMOS, UNDECIDED GEORGIA VOTER: What is this piece called?

KAYE HIAVATY, UNDECIDED GEORGIA VOTER: This one is the goddess of motherhood and the ocean.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ocean.

RANDI KAYE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Show of hands here, who in the group is glad that Joe Biden dropped out of the race?

All of you.

Kamala Harris has raised $200 million in one week. How do you feel about that? Has that energized any of you?

[19:40:09]

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To see young people so energized and registering to vote in huge numbers, it feels very similar to the energy that I felt when President Obama was running.

BRITNEY DANIELS, GEORGIA VOTER: I feel the same way.

KAY BELIVEAU, GEORGIA VOTER: But I wonder, is this the honeymoon period. Is it going to stay like this?

KAYE: I think this is going to get, you know, crazy like Kamala crazy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As a fourth-grader, wondering if a Black woman would ever be president and now it's something that could actually happen is like realizing a dream.

HIAVATY: I think we are ready for a woman. I think we are ready for a woman of color. I'm not sure we're ready for Kamala Harris. BELIVEAU: I don't look at their skin color or if it's a man or woman.

I want a qualified candidate and based on what she has or hasn't done so far, I'm not seeing a very qualified candidate.

KAYE: Some Republicans have been referring to Kamala Harris as a DEI hire.

AMOS: It's an easy dig. You know, it's like you can always go for jugular instead of like, you guys stated earlier, what she's done, what her record has shown, and what she stands for. I think it's just an easy dig.

BRITNEY DANIELS, GEORGIA VOTER: I think it is amazing to have her at the top. If you look at her political career versus Trump, she trumps him.

KAYE: The fact that Kamala Harris is a big supporter of reproductive rights, is that a big draw for you?

AMOS: It seems for me.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Huge plus to me. Having body autonomy is -- we all should have the right to choose what we do with our own bodies.

KAYE: How many of you think Kamala Harris can beat Donald Trump?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I do.

AMOS: I'm halfway.

HIAVATY: When it was announced that this was happening, I'm like, oh darn, what now?

BELIVEAU: It's going to be close.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

BELIVEAU: I really feel like it's going to be extremely close. It could go either way.

AMOS: And if they can get our young Black males out to vote, that's going to be to me the deciding factor which pushes her over the edge.

HIAVATY: Because I thought, okay, I felt we're going to have a Republican, but now --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

HIAVATY: --who knows?

DANIELS: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a real fight now.

KAYE: Do you think it's fair that the Republicans blame Harris for the problem at the border? In part, the border crossings have dropped to a three-year low in June.

HIAVATY: I don't know whether its Harris' fault or whose fault it is, but it has definitely increased in the type of people who are crossing into the border and the damage that they're doing to our country.

KAYE: Harris has become more in line with some of Biden's positions on certain issues. In some cases, even reversing where she stood in the 2020 race now. How do you feel about the evolving issues?

BELIVEAU: Is this for real or she just saying what she thinks people want to hear? Are they rebranding Kamala to be more palatable?

DANIELS: I believe it. I think with her having served as VP for the past four years, things have changed.

KAYE: What makes you nervous about Trump running against Kamala Harris?

HIAVATY: Because Kamala is a great spokesman. She's a debater; she's going to appeal to a wide range of Americans, regardless of color or even female. I just think people are going to like her.

AMOS: She's likable.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She's very likable.

AMOS: Very likable.

BELIVEAU: Trump, he is his own worst enemy with his ego. Huge ego and his huge mouth to match.

KAYE: Let's talk about the presidential debate that's supposed to happen in September. Kamala Harris is calling him out on this saying that he's backtracking. Do you feel like Trump is sort of running from this second debate a bit?

AMOS: Absolutely.

DANIELS: Absolutely.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Absolutely.

DANIELS: I think he's scared because he actually will have to come with some real facts --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Facts.

DANIELS: --and information.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He would have to prepare a little bit more to debate her. Plus, she's argued in court.

AMOS: I think women from all across the board are going to really be paying attention to this debate because it's like, okay, we know your track record with a woman.

BELIVEAU: If he were well-prepared, he would do well. But it's going to be tough because you know, she's smooth, she really is.

KAYE: Last time we spoke two of you, Kaye and Kay had decided you said that you had decided on a candidate and it was Donald Trump. Are you still firm on that?

HIAVATY: I'm not still firm. I would love the Republican Party to win but I think Kamala Harris has so much to offer that it could go either way. And Trump has accomplished a lot in the four years. What Kamala has to convince me of is that those things will return.

KAYE: Are you still firm on Donald Trump?

BELIVEAU: Yes and I mean, it's not Trump so much as the Republicans and I'm not convinced that Kamala is the one. I feel like she's got a lot of Biden baggage that's following her.

KAYE: I know the three of you, last time we talked, were still undecided. Are you decided now?

DANIELS: I am.

KAYE: You are and who are you going to vote for?

DANIELS: Harris, she speaks more to me and she's more likable for one. Younger, I like that because she's going to be able to relate more to younger people.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Definitely voting for Kamala Harris.

AMOS: I'm definitely leaning more towards Harris. Obviously, and the honest truth is because she's a woman and I think the country is ready for a woman. And it's not because she is Black, it's because she's a female and I personally just think a female can actually do the job better.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[19:45:16]

DEAN: Our Randi Kaye, thanks so much for that report.

Still ahead tonight, a photo finish in the men's 100 meter, who took home all of the gold in Paris? You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:50:05]

DEAN: We have seen a surge in COVID cases across the US this summer. According to the CDC, infections are on the rise in at least 38 states with hospitalizations ticking up. Here's CNN chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, with more on what you need to know about this summer surge.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: This week we asked viewers what questions they had about this summer's COVID-19 wave and you had a lot of them. Specifically, about the shots and when you should get your next one.

So first of all, we don't know exactly when the most updated shots are going to be available. But you can probably expect them sometime this fall.

There are a few things to keep in mind. The new COVID shot is going to target the JN.1 variant, which incidentally is a descendant of the Omicron variant. Remember that that?

Now, the predominant strain that's circulating right now is KP.3, which is a descendant of both of those Omicron and JN.1.

So, the bottom line is the new COVID shot should be pretty protective against the currently circulating strains. Also, remember this, immunity, we're learning lasts around four to six months. So keep that number in the back of your mind. That is probably the reason that we're seeing a summer surge as the protection wears off from the last set of shots.

Also, there has been a lot of discussion recently about a combination shot COVID and flu in the same shot. Moderna, the pharma company, had some positive trial results with that combination earlier this summer but we're learning it's not going to be ready for this fall. You can however, remember get both the flu and COVID shots at the same time and try and do that sometime before Halloween.

DEAN: Sanjay, thank you.

A big day for team USA in Paris. American swimmer setting two new world records. Gymnast, Suni Lee adding another medal to her collection. And take a look at this, Noah Lyles edging past Jamaica to win the 100-meter dash by just five thousandths of a second, Incredible. CNNs Coy Wire is in Paris following it all.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: America's Noah Lyles has staked his claim as the fastest man in the world. When I talked to him ahead of these Games, he said he already knew he was, this was just more for everybody else.

A 20-year drought for the USA is over. Olympic final of the men's one hundred meters, the most exhilarating nine seconds in sports. Years of training for a moment that lasts about two deep breaths. And this one went down to a photo finish. Jamaica's 23-year-old Kishane Thompson thought he won it, but after about 15 seconds, it was determined that American, Noah Lyles out lean them at the tape. A personal best, 9.79 seconds, beating Thompson by five one thousandths of a second.

USA's Fred Kerley took the bronze. Lyles, didn't win the qualifier, didn't win the semifinal, but when it mattered most, he delivered. He is the first American man to win the 100 meters in 20 years.

To golf, the comeback for the ages. World number one, Scottie Scheffler overcoming a four-stroke deficit on the final day to win his first Olympic gold, shooting nine under 62 on his final round. Team GB's Tommy Fleetwood took the silver, Japan's Hideki Matsuyama took the bronze. What a year, it's been for Scottie Scheffler, six wins on the PGA tour including the masters the dominance continues.

Novak Djokovic has finally snagged the one thing that seemed to elude him winning his first Olympic gold in his fifth game. He beat Carlos Alcaraz in a thriller at Roland-Garros 7-6, 7-6, that 37-years-old, Djokovic has become the oldest man to win singles gold medal. It also completes Djokovic's career, golden slam, having one Olympics gold in all four majors.

Bobby Finke defends his title, setting a new world record in the 1,500-meter freestyle, a 14:30 point six seven. You can call them back-to-back Bobby. He put the entire men's program on his back. First American man to win individual gold at these Games and he did it on the last race possible.

Finally, one of the wildest gold medals of these games in cycling road race team USA's Kristen Faulkner grew up in Homer, Alaska riding her bike around the fishing villages, became a varsity rower in Harvard, got a degree in computer science, started riding seriously just seven years ago. Zipping through Central Park as a hobby, she got hooked, she quit her career working at investment firms in 2022. And now at 31-years-old, she is an Olympic gold medalist.

See, there's hope for all of us.

DEAN: I don't know, maybe not hope from me, maybe. Coy Wire, thanks so much.

You know, look at the medal table now the US in the lead with 71 total medals including 19 gold, 26, silver, and 26 bronze. China is in second place also with 19 gold medals. Host country, France in third place.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:59:27]

DEAN: 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 and new interviews, the series maps the tumultuous events of the entire year. Here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE ANCHOR: Downtown Chicago at Balbo and Michigan avenues, there has been in progress for some time a peace demonstration. The police have come to put it down, the National Guard has been called to help.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER (voice over): ...police, demonstrators tussling all over this busy intersection, on this night of the presidential nominations at this Democratic Convention. GLORIA STEINEM, AMERICAN JOURNALIST AND SOCIAL ACTIVIST: It was a

police riot and I had never seen that before in my life. I had never seen groups of policemen with lead-knuckled gloves and clubs going after civilians. There were pools of blood on Michigan Avenue.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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

Thanks so much for joining me tonight, I'm Jessica Dean. We're going to see you right back here next weekend.

"The Whole Story" with Anderson Cooper starts now.

Have a great night.