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Kamala Harris Veepstakes Reaches Critical Final Hours; Tropical Storm Debby Strengthens as it Moves Towards Florida; Western Nations Step Up Calls on Citizens to Leave Lebanon; Machado Emerges From Hiding to Participate in Protests; Dozens Arrested in violent Protests Over Southport Stabbings. Aired 5-6 am ET

Aired August 04, 2024 - 05:00   ET

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

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[05:00:41]

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada, and all around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN Newsroom.

Closing in on a VP pick. Kamala Harris prepares to meet with the final contenders in a search for a running mate. We'll look at who they are and how they may impact her chances.

Plus, we're tracking tropical storm Debby as it moves closer to Florida. It's now expected to reach hurricane strength before making landfall. We'll have the latest update from the national hurricane center just ahead.

And Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon exchange a new round of strikes as fear of a widening conflict in the Middle East intensifies.

ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta, this is CNN Newsroom with Kim Brunhuber.

BRUNHUBER: We're now in the critical final hours of Kamala Harris' search for a running mate, a decision she has to make by Tuesday. A source is telling CNN Harris will interview top candidates, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and Arizona Senator Mark Kelly in the coming hours. Harris is also expected to speak with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.

Sources familiar with the selection process say there has been a renewed focus on Walz. The Harris campaign is having to move at lightning speed as the presumptive nominee is expected to appear with her new pick on Tuesday in Pennsylvania. CNN's Priscilla Alvarez has more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're learning more about her face-to-face meetings with some of these VP contenders, which tells us that they are starting to close this process. Of course, this could continue over the course of the weekend. And we're still the timeline here has always been that Tuesday rally when they want to unveil the running mate.

But they're working against the clock here. And what we're learning from a source is that Tim Walz, the Minnesota governor, will be meeting with the Vice President. He has been one of the people on the shortlist, as she also weighs others. You see pictures of them there, including, for example, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and Arizona Senator Mark Kelly.

Now, we got to this moment after days of a team pouring over documents as they worked on this accelerated timeline to vet her potential running mate picks. That was led by former Attorney General Eric Holder, who has been working with a team. He was seen going into the Naval Observatory, the Vice President's residence.

And the plan was to present presentations, so 60 to 90 minutes of walking through each of the contenders. Now, of course, that could go long or short. The Vice President is known over the course of her political career to ask a lot of questions and to drill down on the details.

And the follow-up has been that there will be interviews formally conducted by the vice president. So we're inching closer to that, especially learning now that Tim Walz will be one of the people she interviews.

But, of course, one of the top considerations for the Vice President has been electability. So who could strengthen her chances and help Democrats across the electoral map? But then, too, is what chemistry she has with them.

Of course, she does not have a personal or close relationship with these contenders, so that is also part of the calculus and something that the team has been working on in addition to the focus groups and the polling done on all of these candidates.

So the Vice President, working around the clock here. She knows what the office entails, she holds it now, and that is going to partially inform how she makes her decision moving forward.

But, again, going back to sort of the new detail here is that she is going to interview Tim Walz. He's expected to be one among others who will be interviewed after they had a day hunkering down on these presentations, on each of those on her short list. But certainly a very tight deadline.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: And joining me now from Rockville, Maryland, is Aaron Mannes. He's a lecturer and research associate with the University of Maryland School of Public Policy and an expert on the American vice presidency.

Just the man for the occasion here. So, listen, I'm going to start with a difficult question here. If I had to put you on the spot, what would your sense of who would make the most likely pick here?

[05:05:02]

AARON MANNES, LECTURER, UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND SCHOOL OF PUBLIC POLICY: First of all, thanks for having me on. I'm really enjoying my quadrennial moment of fame here.

People keep asking me that. I really can't say -- because, first of all, they're all great -- they really are all great candidates. They all have a lot of pluses. Everybody has a few minuses, of course. But mostly pluses. The real question, as Priscilla Alvarez just said, is, what's the chemistry?

Because when you pick a vice president, you're picking somebody you're going to be seeing every day when you're both in town for the next four, maybe eight years? Do you get along with this person? Do you want to talk to this person? Can this person help you with the hardest problems in the world?

BRUNHUBER: And presumably, can they help you get at parts of the electorate that you might not be able to? I mean, the case for Josh Shapiro, Pennsylvania's governor, is that he might help Harris in that crucial battleground state. But there is quite a bit of research suggesting that typically doesn't actually happen. Is that right?

MANNES: That's right. I actually saw a clip of your show. You had Kyle Kopko, one of the experts on the question of the vice-presidential impact on the election on. And his research -- he and his partner, Chris Devine, their research is the best. It says, eh, maybe a little bit, not much. That being said, there's two important factors.

One, this is going to be a really close election, so it's not clear if the past rules still apply. You know, a few thousand votes in Pennsylvania or Arizona or with a particular constituency might really, really matter. But the most important thing is, and you can see the Republicans didn't do this, pick someone who there's no doubt that they're presidential. Don't pick somebody who becomes a story because they're not really a great pick.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah. I'm going to ask you about that in a second, but I want to still stay on the Harris pick and sort of our reporting has been that electability is a consideration and also who would balance out the ticket. So if we could just put up a graphic of all of the top contenders there, you'll see basically that they all have something in common. What do you make of the fact that all of the leading candidates are white men?

MANNES: So there's this myth that we need to balance the ticket. Since we have our first woman of color running for the presidency, we should balance it with a white man. So that's one interpretation. I don't know if that's true, but that is certainly the conventional wisdom that's taken hold.

The other thing is you're talking about the historic reality, which is white men still enjoy a lot of advantages in the United States. So it's no surprise that a lot of the people at the top are still white men. That is changing, and that's great. But for the moment, you can understand how statistically it would trend in that direction.

BRUNHUBER: All right. So you touched a little on J.D. Vance here, Donald Trump's running mate, having some people wondering whether he should be replaced because of comments that he's made that haven't been particularly helpful. But -- so if we were saying earlier that the Veep picks might have less effect than we might think in terms of positively, in terms of getting blocks of voters, is the opposite true as well, that they won't really matter in terms of being a drag on the ticket? I guess that's the Sarah Palin question.

MANNES: Right. I mean, again, it's very tough to say. The two VP picks that were generally seen as duds were Dan Quayle in recent years, Dan Quayle and Sarah Palin.

Bush Sr. won with Quayle. By the way, I have a personal hill that I'll buy on that Quayle wasn't that bad. He'd been in the Senate for eight years and was respected there.

Palin was probably a drag on McCain. But remember, the economy had just completely fallen apart and we'd had eight years of Republicans. McCain was going to face an uphill battle no matter who he picked. And he was up against a once in a generation political talent in Barack Obama.

So, again, it's very hard to say. But this election is going to be so -- all the projections are that it's going to be very close and turn on very specific turnout or the very small group of undecided voters. So it's tough to say.

BRUNHUBER: Tough to say indeed. Listen, really appreciate having you on. Aaron Mannes, thank you so much for being here with us.

MANNES: Thank you. Anytime.

BRUNHUBER: All right. Well, it appears Kamala Harris is planning to show up for the previously agreed-upon "ABC News" debate, even if Donald Trump doesn't. Responding to Trump's "ABC" debate exit, Harris stated in a tweet, quote, "It's interesting how anytime, anyplace becomes one specific time, one specific safe place."

[05:10:07]

Meanwhile, Trump says he'll see Harris on September 4th at a "Fox News" debate or not at all. Trump claims his rival doesn't have the mental capacity to do a, quote, "real debate against him."

Trump also says his campaign needs to update its messaging now that it's no longer running against Joe Biden. But his speech at a rally Saturday here in Atlanta was full of the same old insults. CNN's Alayna Treene was there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Former President Donald Trump at a rally in Atlanta on Saturday tested out new lines of attack against Vice President Kamala Harris. And remember, Donald Trump is still trying to figure out which attacks

work the best against her. At one point in that speech, he even said the quiet part out loud and said, we need to define her. And then he caught himself and said, actually, I don't need to define her, going on to criticize her further. Take a listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: You know, 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. We -- 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, I found those remarks so notable because it really lines up with what I'm hearing from Donald Trump's senior advisors, which is that they have to create an entirely new playbook now that he is facing a new opponent.

Remember, they had spent the entire election cycle thus far focused on going after President Joe Biden. And so they're really trying to work on what works with the crowd, what is the energy in the room when he delivers those types of attacks. And we saw that on Saturday night.

Now, I will note, Donald Trump did argue that he found Harris' speech and rally earlier in the week also in Atlanta, Georgia, not even just in the same city but at the exact same venue. He criticized that she had celebrity performers like Megan Thee Stallion perform. He said that he thought that was phony. That is a line I can tell you from my conversations with Trump's team that he is planning to use in the coming weeks in an effort to frame her.

He also tried to tie her to his former political opponent, Hillary Clinton. He said he would never forget that Clinton also had celebrity entertainers name-dropping Bruce Springsteen and saying that he has a bad trait. He only likes people who like him.

Now, another thing I want to point out that I found interesting was that he repeatedly went after Georgia's Republican governor, Brian Kemp, as well as the State Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger.

Remember, they were both key to trying to deny reports of fraud during the 2020 election. Trump repeatedly called them disloyal. And I also will note that Kemp, meanwhile, even though he said he wasn't supporting Donald Trump in the primary, he did ultimately say he would support him in November.

Alayna Treene, CNN, Atlanta, Georgia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Tensions in the Middle East amid fears the ongoing fighting could grow into a full-scale conflict. Still ahead, Israel trades fire with Hezbollah as more countries urge citizens to leave as soon as they can.

Plus, Venezuelans at home and abroad show solidarity with the opposition movement as they push back on Nicolas Maduro's re-election claims. We have that story and much more just ahead, please stay with us.

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[05:17:13]

BRUNHUBER: Tropical storm Debby is getting stronger and expected to make landfall along Florida's northern Gulf Coast as a hurricane on Monday. While North Florida remains in the crosshairs, parts of southwest Florida are already feeling some effects from Debby.

Many communities have been getting ready for days ahead by filling up sandbags, as you can see, to use in the event of flooding. Debby is expected to dump more than a foot of rain across parts of Florida and even more in southern Georgia.

CNN Meteorologist Allison Chinchar joins us now. Allison, you and I were talking last hour, you kind of surprised me with the amount of rain that was headed three or four feet in some areas, right?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yeah, I don't think you're the only one that's going to be surprised by those numbers because it's changed since we -- since we were talking about this storm even 24 hours ago.

Yeah, so right now the storm has actually increased. We just got the new update at the top of the hour right now. So the storm has strengthened up to 50 miles per hour. Sustained winds gusting to 65, and that's expected. It's going to continue to strengthen as it goes now through some very warm open waters.

Some of those outer bands already starting to spread across portions of Florida. That's going to continue throughout the day. As the storm continues to slide its way off to the north, it is expected to strengthen into a Category 1 hurricane just before landfall in what is referred to as the Big Bend region of Florida where we have those hurricane warnings in place.

Then it's going to stay a Category 1 strength even as it passes just east of Tallahassee, Florida before finally beginning to spread a little bit farther eastward. But then notice it just kind of hovers and sits across this general region here. That is the last thing we want to see because that's going to be one of the contributing factors to flooding.

Now another concern of flooding is going to be the storm surge. All of these yellow areas you see here and then also on the north side around St. Marks and then also around Tampa, St. Pete, you're looking at storm surge of three to five feet. But the peak area is going to be right here through the Big Bend where you're talking 6 to 10 feet of storm surge.

Now that's the flooding coming in from the ocean. We also have the flooding component coming down from above in the form of rainfall. A lot of these areas of northern Florida, you're talking widespread six inches of rain, some as high as a foot.

But then you start going northward into places like Georgia and the Carolinas where that system is expected to essentially stall over them. Now you're starting to see widespread totals of a foot of rain. Some of these areas looking at 20 to 30 inches total.

Again, that could be potentially historic numbers for some of these states, especially South Carolina. That's why the Weather Prediction Center has issued an extremely rare high risk for excessive rainfall and flooding on day 3, which is considered Tuesday for this particular area here across South Carolina and the extreme northeast or southeastern portion of Georgia. So this includes cities like Savannah and Charleston.

[05:20:00]

Now, keep in mind, too, this is Tuesday, but this comes after back-to- back days of a moderate risk. So you're looking at Sunday and Monday of where you're going to be having those days dealing with excessive amounts of rainfall.

Now, the other thing, too, is you may say, OK, well, why is it just going to sit there? Well, the models don't really know what to do with it once it makes landfall in Florida. So it just kind of goes all over the place. I mean, really, can we look at it as it looks like maybe something a 5-year-old would draw? It's kind of just all over the place. But that's because the models just don't know what to do.

The steering mechanism that is currently guiding the storm kind of breaks down. And that, unfortunately, is what's going to lead to the tremendous amounts of rain that are expected over the next five to seven days.

BRUNHUBER: Squiggly, I think, is the technical term for what you're talking about there.

CHINCHAR: Yes.

BRUNHUBER: Allison Chinchar, thank you so much. Appreciate that.

More countries are urging their citizens to leave Lebanon amid growing fears of a full-scale war breaking out in the Middle East. France has joined the U.S., Britain and Jordan, urging their citizens to leave as soon as possible, while Sweden is now temporarily pulling out its embassy staff from Beirut.

Saturday night, Israel said it intercepted a barrage of 30 projectiles coming from Lebanon, which didn't cause any damage or casualties. Hezbollah said it was responding to multiple Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon earlier on Saturday, reportedly going after Hezbollah targets. A Lebanese news agency says one teenager was killed and six civilians

wounded. Now, that's happening after Iran threatened to retaliate against Israel for the killing of Hamas political chief in Tehran. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility.

All right, our correspondents are staying by to cover this story from all angles. We have Ben Wedeman in Beirut, but first we want to go to Nada Bashir in London.

So, Nada, Hezbollah already firing rockets into Israel, but presumably just a precursor to an actual main attack, right?

NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, and there are real concerns around what that retaliation, that full response from Iran could look like. We've heard from the Revolutionary Guard Corps in Iran issuing a renewed warning. They have said that they will inflict severe punishment, in their words, on the state of Israel, adding that this response will come at an appropriate time, place and manner. In their words, this will be blood vengeance and that that response will be certain.

But there are real questions around when this will happen, what that response could look like. We've heard from a U.S. official saying that they believe this could be imminent in the coming days. But it remains to be seen whether we see a direct response from Iran, perhaps in the manner that we saw in April, drones and missiles targeting Israeli territory directly from Iran, or whether perhaps we see a broader, more complex, more coordinated attack targeting Israel in coordination with Iran's regional proxies, namely Hezbollah and Lebanon, perhaps the Houthis in Yemen.

So these are all key questions right now as the region stands on a knife edge waiting for this retaliation. Of course, there are questions around the calculation that will go into that response from Iran, whether perhaps they are seeking to restore deterrence against Israel without provoking an all-out war directly against the state of Israel, or whether perhaps we will see a retaliation in response to the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran earlier this week that could trigger a broader regional conflict. And that is certainly a fear that is held by many in the region, many internationally even.

And we've seen a flurry of diplomatic activity over the last few days. Just yesterday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken held calls with his British and French counterparts, again focusing on efforts to de- escalate tensions in the region, but also crucially, of course, focusing on trying to restore attention on the ceasefire negotiations, which at this point feel somewhat dead in the water given the events of the last week.

And, of course, we have learned in the last few hours, according to Iranian state media, that Jordan's Foreign Minister is set to pay a visit to Tehran today to hold talks on regional and international issues. So certainly a huge focus for regional leaders.

The U.S., as well, deeply concerned around these rising tensions, already bolstering its military preparedness in the region, sending in warships and military squadrons as well into the region. So it certainly feels as though the region is on edge at the moment.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, absolutely. Stand by, Nada. I want to go now to Ben Wedeman. Nada was talking about the international aspect of this. We've seen countries advising their citizens to leave Lebanon with fears about this growing, escalating conflict in the region. What's the latest?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The exodus from Lebanon seems to really be picking up. A variety of countries are telling their nationals to get out now. France, describing the situation here as highly volatile, said, we invite French nationals to make their arrangements now to leave Lebanon as soon as possible.

Sweden is moving its six diplomatic staff here in Beirut to Cyprus for the entire month of August and will reconsider moving them back in the future. When exactly? We don't know.

[05:25:12]

Jordan has also told its nationals to leave the country as soon as possible. Ukraine flew out 30 of its nationals as well. And there really is a growing fear that perhaps this time, because we've seen time and time again since last October, tensions rising and then things calming down again. This -- and I've been through most of them. This time it seems worse than others.

Now, as far as what's going on, on the border, shortly after midnight, Hezbollah said it fired tens of rockets at Beit Hillel, an Israeli community on the other side of the border. That's the first time that place has been targeted.

Hezbollah said it was in retaliation for an Israeli strike that killed a 17-year-old boy and injured several others. One of those injured, a man in his 60s, died from his injuries today.

Now, we don't believe that this volley of rockets at Israel, most of them were intercepted, was part of the answer to the killing last Tuesday of Fuad Shukr, that senior Hezbollah military commander. It is normal that after civilians are killed on the Lebanese side, Hezbollah will fire a volley of rockets back at Israel.

But, of course, everybody here is bracing for the possibility of a broad war between Israel and Hezbollah, Iran and Iran's other allies in the region.

Kim?

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, all right. Nada, I want to go back to you. You've been following some other angles on the story. There was a stabbing attack and Israeli strikes on a school and camp for displaced Palestinians. What more can you tell us?

BASHIR: Well, Kim, first on that stabbing attack, we have been hearing from the emergency services and police officials in Israel. At least two people now confirmed to have been killed, a 66-year-old woman and a man said to be approximately 80 years old, both killed in a knife attack earlier today. At least two others injured.

According to police officials in Israel, the stabber involved in this incident was said to have been, in their words, neutralized. They say it was a resident of the West Bank. We are still waiting to get more details around this attack earlier this morning.

Of course, as you mentioned, we've also been seeing ongoing airstrikes in the Gaza Strip. Just yesterday, we saw multiple strikes targeting two schools in Gaza City, more than a dozen killed in those strikes. And, of course, many more injured, distressing images and videos coming out from that attack.

But earlier, overnight, rather, we have seen, again, yet more airstrikes, this time targeting an area near the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah. This is one of the last few hospitals still able to receive patients. We've seen it on a daily basis, completely overrun with patients.

But it was actually the courtyard of this hospital where thousands of people have sought shelter, have been living in these temporary tents, encampments around the hospital in the hope that the hospital would remain a safe space. But, again, that simply has not been the case. We've seen strikes now targeting this area where the camps were, videos emerging showing tents engulfed in flames, civilians desperately trying to rescue people from the fires.

At least five people so far, according to authorities in Gaza, have been confirmed to have been killed, at least 18 others injured. But, again, that figure could continue to rise. The Israeli military, responding to a question from CNN, says they are looking into these reports.

But, again, this was an area not only known to be housing and sheltering civilians, but also, of course, one of the crucial hospitals still providing life-saving support to civilians in Gaza.

Kim.

BRUNHUBER: All right, Nada Bashir in London and Ben Wedeman in Beirut, thank you both. Really appreciate it.

Ukrainian military claims it sank a Russian submarine and hit an S-400 anti-aircraft missile system in Russian-occupied Crimea. Ukrainian officials say the submarine, quote, "sank on the spot," adding that the same sub was severely damaged in Ukrainian missile attacks last year. He claims Russia's Navy has already lost a third of its Black Sea fleet. Russia has yet to comment on the alleged attack.

Ukraine's military says it also carried out strikes inside Russia on Saturday, including an airfield where Russian forces allegedly stored guided aerial bombs and other equipment.

The leaders of seven European countries are calling for the release of all tally sheets from Venezuela's recent presidential election. The joint declaration came as thousands took to the streets of Caracas on Saturday to march in rallies supporting either the opposition coalition or incumbent President Nicolas Maduro.

[05:30:07]

Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado emerged from hiding on to participate in Saturday's protests, telling supporters their movement has never been so strong. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARIA CORINA MACHADO, VENEZUELA OPPOSITION LEADER: The world knows they intend to forcibly withhold the result. Six days later they have not handed over a single record. The period has expired and no pseudo- legal maneuver can cover up the truth. The truth is in our tallies and the fact is in our hearts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Venezuelans from all around the world are showing their solidarity with the opposition, including in Miami, Florida, where nearly 100 exiles rallied in support of Machado's movement.

Violent protests rock parts of the U.K. following a deadly stabbing on children. I'll speak to an expert about the ways social media is fueling these demonstrations.

Plus, the official cause of death of a 43-year-old U.S. man who's pinned to the ground by security officers has been released. We'll have that story and much more straight ahead.

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

In the U.K., dozens of people have been arrested as violent protests fueled by far-right groups gripped several cities for another day.

Demonstrators burned properties and clashed with the police on Saturday, injuring a number of officers. Tensions have been flaring since a stabbing attack last week, which killed three children and injured several others.

Far-right agitators have seized on the attack to mobilize around online misinformation and hateful anti-migrant and anti-Muslim narratives.

[05:35:05]

Police say the teenage suspect was born in Cardiff, Wales.

All right, joining me now is Joe Mulhall, Director of Research at the advocacy group HOPE not hate.

Thanks for being here with us. So, just to start broadly, why has this incident resonated so much across the country? JOE MULHALL, DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH, HOPE NOT HATE: Well, in the immediate aftermath of that horrifying attack that happened in Monday in Southport, we started to see misinformation and disinformation being spread by far-right networks online that extensively claimed that the attacker was a Muslim, there was a fake name that was spreading around the internet, or that they were asylum seeker, or that they had recently crossed the channel in a boat, all of which are very kind of emotive and feeble narratives at the moment in the United Kingdom.

And very quickly, we started to see people organizing demonstrations and rallies, kind of counter-protests, et cetera. But what's really important here is that in recent days, it's broadened much, much further out than just talking about the specific event in Southport.

And they've taken on a much broader anti-multiculturalism, anti- Muslim, anti-asylum seeker kind of bent. And what we're seeing here actually is just widespread far-right rioting. We've seen large number of racist attacks. We've seen mosques being targeted and accommodation housing asylum seekers as well.

BRUNHUBER: Now, obviously, the role of social media is under the spotlight here. And there's some research that suggests that the resurgence of the far-right violence in the U.K. is part due to Elon Musk's decision to allow some of these far-right figures back onto X. Is that right?

MULHALL: Yeah, I think it's an enormous contributing factor to some of what we've seen here. A number of the most high-profile figures that were spreading misinformation, that were whipping up anger and whipping up tensions and directing tensions, were individuals that had previously been removed from Twitter. They'd been de-platformed for a range of offences.

But in recent months, since Elon Musk has taken over, they've been re- platformed. And we've got figures such as Andrew Tate, the very famous misogynist, the far-right extremist in the U.K., Tommy Robinson, both of which produced content in the days following the attack, which was viewed hundreds of thousands and in some cases many millions of times. And these are figures that had previously been removed from the platform.

Twitter, or X, is now called, has been awash with misinformation and disinformation. But also, it's one of the places where we've seen events and rallies and riots being organized in recent days.

BRUNHUBER: Now, you've spoken about some of these figures as being so- called weather makers, I guess, because this phenomenon, it's so decentralized. It's hard to fight, but you have these people sort of generating the atmosphere and then other people sort of pile on and organize. So that makes it extremely hard to fight, I imagine. So talk to us about that phenomenon and what to do about it.

MULHALL: Yeah, I mean, in many ways, this kind of wave of rioting and racist violence reflects the nature of the contemporary far-right in the United Kingdom. These events aren't being organized by a single person or a single organization. And most of the people turning up at events are not part of any traditional far-right organization, though some, of course, are.

But rather, what we're seeing here is the result of these very decentralized, massive networks of online figures, far-right individuals around the country, and in fact, also around the world, engaging with far-right material, creating far-right material. And then out of these networks, we see individuals calling individual demonstrations, and we start to see people then organizing around that.

And there's no centralized figure here. It's very much reflecting the way that the internet works and the way that the far-right works. It makes it much, much harder to work out who they are, because much of this happens anonymously. Demonstrations are called by individuals and we don't know who's calling them.

But it also makes it harder to work out how many people we expect to turn up at events and the extremeness of the events that are being planned.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah. So hard to fight. We'll have to leave it there, but Joe Mulhall, thank you so much for being here with us. Really appreciate it.

MULHALL: Thanks.

BRUNHUBER: The death of a 43-year-old black man in June after he was pinned to the ground by security forces in Milwaukee has been ruled a homicide. That's according to an autopsy report.

It says "D'Vontaye Mitchell died from restraint asphyxia and toxic effects of drugs." CNN's Camila Bernal has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The family of D'Vontaye Mitchell and their attorneys were waiting for this autopsy report now that it shows the manner of death as homicide. They're hoping for and they're demanding criminal charges in this case. But the Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office is still telling CNN that they have no comment.

[05:40:02]

Now, Mitchell died on June 30th after he was pinned to the ground by security officers outside a Hyatt Regency Hotel in Milwaukee, and the incident was partially caught on video. The investigation report from the medical examiner's office said that Mitchell was restrained by four people after being combative and went unresponsive as the hotel staff waited for police to arrive.

Now, it also said they found drug paraphernalia. On Friday, one of the family attorneys also released several videos, and I do want to warn you that they may be graphic for some people. According to the M.E. report, he entered the hotel and he appeared to be frantic and panting.

It says that at some point he went into the women's restroom and attempted to lock himself inside with others that were using the restroom, and they started screaming. And that's when two hotel security guards went into the bathroom and physically dragged him out of the hotel. When he was outside, four people held Mitchell face down on the concrete.

Now, the attorney on Friday pointed out that at no time in the videos you see Mitchell punching anyone or kicking anyone and said he was just trying to get up. The video shows Mitchell's pants falling down at some point as a man punches him in the face multiple times while he's being dragged on the floor and then outside on the sidewalk by a Hyatt guest and the three employees.

Then another video showed an employee kicking him in the face while Mitchell was on the ground. The family attorney described it as a beat-down. The company said several employees were fired after this incident, but again the family is calling for criminal charges. And this, of course, for some brings back memories of George Floyd, and there are questions about the use of force, particularly against people of color.

So this is a family asking for explanations and asking for accountability in the form of charges. All of this as we wait to hear from the district attorney.

Camila Bernal, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Well, it's been another nail-biting and history-defining day at the Paris Games. When we come back, we'll unpack all the action that unfolded on Saturday, and then we'll look ahead to today's events. That's coming up. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:45:22]

BRUNHUBER: All right, here's where the medal table stands on day nine of the Paris Gold Rush. China still holds its lead with the most Olympic gold medals so far. Team USA close behind as leading the pack with the most medals overall.

Now, today's highlights will include the men's 100-meter final. American Noah Lyles will be running to break Usain Bolt's world record. The last night of swimming for men and women features four finals and there's a rematch of Wimbledon on tap.

Spain's Carlos Alcaraz goes up against Serbian legend Novak Djokovic in the men's final at Roland Garros. CNN Sports Amanda Davies joins us now live from Paris.

So before we get to today, just looking at what happened already, I mean we're really witnessing history here, right? AMANDA DAVIES, CNN WORLD SPORT: DAVIES: Absolutely and it is such a pleasure to be here to do it. I was there at the pool last night. And did you know there is a new name for August the 3rd? It is 800 Freestyle Day. That's what Katie Ledecky has dubbed it anyway and rightly so after claiming a fourth straight Olympic gold medal in the event here in Paris on Saturday.

On the same date, she won her first all the way back in London in 2012. I was there watching on. It was awesome to see her in action, the power and the speed holding off Australia's Ariarne Titmus to join the great Michael Phelps as the only athlete, male or female, to have claimed gold in the same event at four straight games. It's her 14th Olympic medal overall.

What does she plan to do next? Well some ping-pong apparently and visit her grandma and then take a breather and why not? I think she absolutely deserves it.

There was another Olympic record, this time in the 200 meters individual medley for 17-year-old Summer McIntosh and a world record for Team USA's 4x100 medley crew, the American dream team of Ryan Murphy, Nic Fink, Gretchen Walsh and Torri Huske taking the gold in style but a pretty unusual position to be in for home favorite Leon Marchand finishing in fifth for France.

The massive weight of home support not enough to roar he and his teammates to a medal against the squad depth of the others.

Guess who took the gold in the gymnastics women's vault? Yes of course she did, Simone Biles reigning supreme once again displaying just a superior level of difficulty to the others and nailing it to take victory ahead of Brazil's Rebeca Andrade and U.S. teammate Jade Carey.

So it's three golds down, potentially two more to go for her here in Paris and how about this for exciting news? She's not ruling out sticking around for the next Games in LA in 2028 as well.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SIMONE BILES, 7X OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST: Never say never the home games is the home -- the next Olympics is at home so you just never know but I am getting really old.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DAVIES: Not that old.

Over at the athletics with the rain pouring an historic run and night for St. Lucia a first ever Olympic medal of any color in any sport for them and Julien Alfred and what a medal none other than the women's 100 meters. The 2024 world indoor 60 meters champion she's talked about how she used to run barefoot in her school uniform at a rundown track who lost her father at the age of 12 and then moved to Jamaica on her own at 14 to chase her Olympic dreams.

She has taken the biggest prize of all finishing ahead of a really disappointed world champion Sha'Carri Richardson who took silver. And Alfred has already run again today this morning posting the fastest time in the heats of the women's 200 as well.

Also in action again today fresh her fans hope off the back of a sensational run last night Femke Bol the 24-year-old Dutch hurdler hauled her country to victory in the mixed 4x400 relay look at that run.

She took the baton in fourth place powered past the Dutch rivals to take a sensational gold and it's a brilliant warm-up for one of the clash of the Titan events taking place later on Sunday the 400 hurdles.

Bol who is the reigning world champion going head-to-head against defending Olympic champion and world record holder Sydney McLaughlin- Levrone for the first time since 2022. And we're also gearing up for the men's hundred as well, the double sprint world champion Noah Lyles well aware he needs to step it up. He was given a bit of a shock in yesterday's heats.

[05:50:04]

Kim.

BRUNHUBER: All right appreciate that. Amanda Davies in Paris thank you so much.

Well, coming up before you head to the beach or spend time outdoors make sure you're using sunscreen the right way. We'll look at how to properly lather up, after the break. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRUNHUBER: Millions across the U.S. are set to sweat this weekend amid record-breaking temperatures. More than 18 million people are under excessive heat alerts places like the Pacific Northwest, Central Gulf Coast, Southern California and the southwest could have heat index temperatures topping 110 degrees Fahrenheit.

Now, the extreme heat is causing difficult conditions on the fire lines as more than 90 wildfires are burning in the West.

Now, before you spend some time outdoors in the sun, are you sure you're using sunscreen the most effective way? Well, CNN's Meg Tirrell explains the proper way to lather up.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Did you know we are probably all using sunscreen wrong, dermatologists say most of us are not using nearly enough.

DR. ANTHONY ROSSI, DERMATOLOGIST: I cringe when I see people getting burnt on the beach. UVA and UVB are the two main types of UV exposure that we get that cause skin aging but in reality we know both actually contribute to skin cancer. [05:55:07]

So if you're just looking at sunscreens, look for something that's a broad spectrum because you know it'll have a UVA and UVB coverage.

TIRRELL: They say for your full body you need about an ounce of sunscreen that's enough to almost fill a shot glass. So I'll start filling up the shot glass you tell me when you think is enough.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

TIRRELL: -- for your whole body. OK, here we go. Say stop.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would say half.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Say half there.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Stop. That's it for me. I'll be honest.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Your whole body.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't put it on my whole body.

TIRRELL: So should we apply it?

ROSSI: Moment of truth, yes.

TIRRELL: Take the shot.

ROSSI: Take the shot, cheers.

TIRRELL: Cheers.

ROSSI: Yeah.

TIRRELL: OK.

ROSSI: So I really want to get in there and, you know.

TIRRELL: Oh my gosh.

ROSSI: You should apply sunscreen at least 15 minutes before going out into the Sun.

The rate of burning depends on your skin type. So even if you have melanin rich skin you can still get burned. The other sort of misconception that if you have an SPF 30 you can stay out in the Sun for, you know, 30 minutes or so. But it really is a factor so. It's 30 times your normal time to burn.

TIRRELL: OK so how much are you supposed to be using on your face?

ROSSI: So for your face you want to do at least two to three fingertips, right?

TIRRELL: Just your face? ROSSI: No your face, your neck, the back of your ears.

TIRRELL: OK.

ROSSI: I always got the bottom of my lip too just to make sure, and the tops of my eyelids because I've cut skin cancer out of sort of every part on someone's face.

TIRRELL: Oh my gosh.

ROSSI: It's hard, right? Sunscreen we know we should use it but we're not always using it correctly. But I applaud anyone who's actually just using it on the daily basis.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: That wraps this hour of CNN Newsroom. I'm Kim Brunhuber.

For viewers in North America "CNN This Morning" is next. For the rest of the world, it's "Connecting Africa."