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Taylor Swift's Austria Shows Canceled Over Alleged Terror Plot; Sources: Hezbollah Poised To Strike Israel Independent Of Iran; Harris-Walz Campaign Swings Through Battleground States; Republicans Attack Walz Over His Visits To China; Fighting Underway After Kyiv's Incursion Into Russia; Indicted Former Uvalde School Police Chief Speaks To CNN. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired August 08, 2024 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Dying from a stroke was about 133 percent higher among black adults than their white peers.

Now I will say, if you see someone having a stroke, call 911 immediately. The quicker you respond, that's the more potential that there will be a recovery. The signs and symptoms to look out for sudden numbness in the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body, facial drooping, confusion, sudden lack of vision.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers all around the world. I'm Fredricka Whitefield. And this is the CNN Newsroom.

Just ahead, Taylor Swift's Eras Tour concerts are canceled in Vienna. We'll have details on the foil terror plot and what Austrian officials say about the suspects.

Back in the U.S., Kamala Harris and her vice presidential pick rally crowds in battleground states, while Team Trump tries to slow the Democratic momentum with what critics say is a trolling J.D. Vance.

And despite ongoing efforts to achieve a cease fire in Gaza, Iran and its proxy, Hezbollah, are said to be inching closer to a potential strike on Israel.

The Taylor Swift, fans in Austria are heartbroken after her Vienna concerts had to be canceled over a suspected terrorist plot. Police say they have foiled the planned attack which had targeted a stadium where the pop star was set to perform.

Starting tonight, all three of the singer's Vienna shows had to be canceled. Austrian officials say they have questioned three suspects, all of them teenagers. They also say they found chemicals at the home of one suspect. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh is standing by in London. But first, let's -- let's get to Salma Abdelaziz in Vienna, with more on what's happening there and the investigation. So how was the suspected plot uncovered?

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Fredricka, and this has absolutely rattled this very peaceful city. We were just at a press conference with the Interior Ministry where they revealed some very worrying new details about this plot to attack. What is the stadium right behind me here, the stadium where this Taylor Swift, three days of Taylor Swift concerts, rather, should have been held.

I think the most chilling detail, Fredricka, is that one of the suspects had access to this stadium right here. Take a listen to what the head of the country's security services told me just a short time ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OMAR HAIJAWI-PIRCHNER, AUSTRIAN DIRECTOR OF SECURITY SERVICES: One of the suspects got an application a few days ago for a facility enterprise that is, at the moment, working for preparing the concert in the stadium.

ABDELAZIZ: So he had applied for a job, but he did not have a job in the stadium.

HAIJAWI-PIRCHNER: He had it. He was yesterday in the stadium. So when we arrested him, he was already in the stadium.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABDELAZIZ: It's -- it's absolutely shocking to imagine that 17-year- old was arrested just outside here with plans officials say to not only attack the stadium, potentially with explosives, but also they are operating on the assumption that possibly a vehicle was going to be used to run over some of the Swifty fans that would be outside, because thousands of them were expected to be outside of the stadium. This has absolutely come as a shock and a disappointment to Swifties and many of them are gathered here today.

I actually want to interview or want to bring you to one family here. We have Rachel, Sara and their aunt, Monica. You guys flew from Canada to be here today. How does it feel to know you're not going to get to go to that concert?

RACHEL HAACK, TAYLOR SWIFT FAN: I'm very disappointed to be here so far away from home and not be able to see Taylor Swift. We came here with the hopes of seeing her, obviously, and it's just really sad to know that there's people that ruin that for us here today.

ABDELAZIZ: But Sara, you also said you -- you understood, because this was very serious?

SARA HAACK, TAYLOR SWIFT FAN: Yes, we're just so grateful that everybody is safe and that we're still able to enjoy this nice city. And, you know, gather with Swifties outside of stadium and trade bracelets and stuff like that, we're still able to enjoy.

ABDELAZIZ: And Monica, I know as a guardian, this is so worrying to imagine that an event that gathers young girls could be targeted. How does it make you feel? MONICA BROWN, TAYLOR SWIFT FAN: Yes, I found out the news last night that the concert was canceled. And, yes, all I could think about last night was sort of that, what if, you know, what could have happened? So yes, I'm terribly disappointed this was supposed to be such a fun event that we've been looking forward to for so long, and but at the same time, I'm just so thankful that we're safe and that we'll be able to go back to Canada.

ABDELAZIZ: I know you guys have costumes. What's your plan over the next couple of days?

R. HAACK: Just make the most of our trip while we're here. Maybe we'll get a chance to wear our costumes somewhere else, but, yes, we're just exploring the city and excited to be here.

ABDELAZIZ: Thank you guys so much. I hope you enjoy your time. Fredricka, that's the thing is, yes, the concert might have been canceled, but the Swifties have taken over Vienna, regardless, there are events planned all over the city, some of them going ahead, some of them not. Meanwhile, of course, authorities continuing that ongoing investigation into what they call a very serious and wide plot.

[08:05:11]

WHITFIELD: All right. Thank you so much, Salma, and thanks to the ladies there. And it was really disappointing. But as they said, so glad that everyone remains safe.

All right. Nick, how about to you? How hard is it in general to ensure the safety of soft targets like concerts and other stadium events?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: Yes. I mean let's dig a bit more into exactly what investigators are now saying happened with this plot in Austria. Strikingly, the three people detained are all teenagers, a 19-year-old who quit his job recently and changed his appearance, saying he was planning something big, according to investigators, an Austrian citizen who appears to have a North Macedonian heritage.

At the same time, there was a 17-year-old who said he recently broke up with his girlfriend, Salma, referring to how he had a job at the stadium there. He was in contact, it seems, over the internet, planning part of this in encrypted messaging rooms say Austrian authorities that they weren't necessarily able to access themselves.

And a third individual, a 15-year-old boy, also an Austrian citizen with perhaps Turkish or Croatian background here. I point this out because the issue often of heritage and immigration plays significantly into discussions of extremism in certain parts of the body politic here in Europe. But they were communicating. It's unclear if the 15-year-old was part of the plot. But it's the details of what they were planning and what they had at their disposal that's particularly shocking.

The 19-year-old lived, it seems, about an hour's drive south of the venues. His home searched, chemical precursors found there, likely for explosives. And authorities saying he likely meant to bring the devices to the periphery around the concert, detonate them amongst the crowds. Remember, it's not just the 65,000 in this case, who would be at the capacity venue is the tens of thousands who often try and go for a free concert outside overhearing the event.

You could potentially have detonated that device in those crowds. And chillingly, too, he had, it seems, 21,000 in counterfeit currency, knives and authorities say, intended to be a suicide bomber, possibly one, maybe two here. He also had a police blue flashing light in his possession, which they think may have been used to facilitate the ingress or egress of his car before or after likely access to the area, I would have thought, if indeed he intended to end his life, as well as those of his potential victims too.

So startling details here of how advanced this plot indeed was. And the suggestion too, that others may have been aware. Now, police say they're not looking for anybody else in the investigation inside of Austria. So it would seem that these three teen -- teenagers are kind of it. But that would possibly point towards others being aware, and that might be what we've heard, I've heard many European intelligence officials warning about that the -- the notion of the directed attack, what we used to recall from al-Qaeda 20 years ago or so, is back, and that's essentially recruiters planners telling people to do things in Western countries.

That's potentially the fear here, because the extraordinary complexity and resources that these 19, 17, and potentially 15-year-olds had at their disposal quite, quite shocking. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: I mean, it really is quite stunning. I mean, incredible details of that alleged plot. All right, thank you so much Nick Paton Walsh, appreciate you.

Meantime, world leaders are keeping a close eye on the Middle East, where Israel is bracing for expected retaliation from Iran and its allies, as U.S. officials urged de-escalation of tensions. Two Sources tell CNN, Hezbollah looks increasingly like it may strike Israel, regardless of what Tehran intends to do. Sources say the Iran backed militant group is moving faster than Iran in its planning, and an attack could happen within the coming days.

CNN's Clarissa Ward joins us now live from Tel Aviv. Sources saying that Hezbollah could act with little or no notice. What are you hearing?

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's exactly what we're hearing. The expectation had been that Iran would launch a retaliatory attack, that Hezbollah and other proxies might be acting in coordination. Now the primary fear, or the sort of area of concentration, if you will, Fred, is on this possibility that Hezbollah will act unilaterally.

Now, I will say here in Israel, life is still continuing, more or less as usual. The Home Front Command hasn't changed its sort of readiness of alert. But we have seen Israeli leaders, both political and also military, visiting troops at different bases, trying to kind of rally this idea that Israel is prepared, not just to be on the defense, but potentially as well to go on the offense.

[08:10:10]

Meanwhile, Fredricka, hostilities continuing inside Gaza, according to the Gaza civil defense, at least 12 people were killed in a house that was struck earlier today. And residents of Northern Gaza in several areas have received orders of evacuation from the IDF. That all sort of continuing to class, somewhat of a gloomy picture on the prospect of these ceasefire talks, despite the rhetoric that we have heard, most recently from the White House that they are as close as ever had they been before to a deal.

There remains a lot of suspicion as to how the kind of final furlong will be breached, if you will, particularly given the fact that Yahya Sinwar has been named the head of Hamas' political faction, and also continued suspicion that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is also not putting his full force of effort into trying to secure that deal, despite, as we know, the sort of crushing pressure that he appears to be coming under from the U.S. and from other Western allies.

So for the moment, people hear in something of a holding pattern expectation that we might see something from Hezbollah in the coming days, but nothing definite yet. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: All right, keep us posted. Clarissa Ward, thank you so much.

All right, Bangladesh's interim government is expected to be sworn in today, after the country's long standing prime minister resigned this week. Weeks of anti-government protests have left hundreds of people dead as student protesters clash with police. Nobel laureate, Muhammad Yunus, is set to head the new government. The 84-year-old banker and social entrepreneur has arrived in the capital of Dhaka and called for calm.

And now to the race for the White House in the U.S., the Harris-Walz campaign has hit the ground running. The Democratic ticket will swing through the battleground states of Michigan and Arizona today. On Wednesday, Kamala Harris and Tim Walz saw two packed rallies on their first full day of campaigning since Walz was announced as Harris's running mate in Detroit. The crowds made sure the Vice President knew they weren't fans of her challenger, Donald Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Hold on, hold on, hold on. You know what? Here, hold on. Here's the thing, the courts are going to handle that. We're going to beat them in November.

(CHEERING)

HARRIS: We're going to beat them in November.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Edward-Isaac Dovere is joining us now from Washington with the details on all this. All right, so that was kind of reminiscent of that John McCain moment, wasn't it? Remember when someone in the audience yelled something, and John McCain, you know, tried to clear that up. That was kind of reminiscent of that. So what is on tap today for this campaign?

EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Well, look, as you mentioned, we've got stops from the two of them together in Michigan and in Arizona, trying to keep this energy and momentum going that has been going at a pretty non-stop pace for Harris since the surprise withdrawal from Biden from the campaign and -- and her entry, which let's just all remember, was all of 17 days ago.

So this campaign is looking to keep the sugar high going by keeping, essentially injecting sugar into the system as much as they can, getting people talking about things and -- and -- and talking about her and -- and the campaign in a positive way that had not been the case before she jumped into the race. And of course, the -- the -- the lock her up or lock him up part is something that the campaign is trying to move away from, because that gets them away from the things that they want to be talking about, and the energy, the sort of more positive, joyful energy that they are trying to project here from this campaign.

WHITFIELD: Right. And so what was the reception like in Wisconsin and Michigan?

DOVERE: Well, these are huge crowds, Fredricka. I will tell you. I was in Philadelphia on Tuesday night for that debut rally for Walz. There were 14,000 people there, over 10,000 people at each of the stops yesterday. These are crowds that are of a size and are of an energy that I don't think Democrats have seen since at least the -- the 2012 Obama reelection campaign. That -- that is something that is different here.

We will see what that translates to. Does crowd size matter? Does crowd enthusiasm matter? But this is not the way that Joe Biden was being received on the trail, I can tell you all through the year, even long before the debate. And Harris is hoping that that is a good indicator of how much interest there is in her, and that will carry her through to November. We will see.

WHITFIELD: Yes. And -- and wasn't it new lingo that we heard from Kamala Harris yesterday? She said, you know, we're -- we're joyful warriors. So that is --

[08:15:01]

DOVERE: Right.

WHITFIELD: -- right. That's indicative of, I guess, the -- the spirit that they want to carry on. All right, Edward-Isaac Dovere, thank you so much.

DOVERE: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, U.S. President Joe Biden says he believes Donald Trump will not accept the outcome of the election if he loses in November. Mr. Biden spoke to CBS News in an interview that will air on Sunday. And in it, he warned that Trump is also trying to install local election officials who are sympathetic to him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you confident that there will be a peaceful transfer of power in January 2025?

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If Trump wins, no, I'm not confident at all. I mean, if Trump loses, I'm not confident at all. He means what he says. We don't take them seriously. He means it. All the stuff about if we lose, there'll be a bloodbath, it have been stolen. Look -- look, what they're trying to do now in the local election districts where people count the votes are elected. They're putting people in place in states that they're going to count the votes, right? You can't love your country only when you win.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Meanwhile, J.D. Vance is stepping up his attacks on Tim Walz's military career. And the Republican vice presidential candidate accused Tim Walz of ducking service in Iraq. Walz left the Army National Guard and ran for Congress back in 2005, two months before his unit was deployed to Iraq. And before that, Walz served 24 years in the guard. Vance served four years and deployed once to Iraq.

Alayna Treene joining us live now from Washington with more details on this. And I wonder if we're going to hear more detail on this from former President Trump. He has a press conference later on today, at about 2 o'clock.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: I'm not sure if it will be in that press conference. We'll see. We know with the former president, you can never actually predict what he's going to bring up. He loves to rift. He loves to go off script. I wouldn't be surprised if a reporter tries to bring this up, but we'll see whether or not he addresses it.

But I think the big picture here, Fred, with some of these attacks, is that we're really seeing this new phase in this election cycle, as we're looking to that sprint to November. It's becoming a lot more uglier, nastier, the attacks are getting more personal. We really are in this different phase of the campaign. And I think that was on full display with these attacks from J.D. Vance about Walz's military record.

Now, as you mentioned, he accused Walz of abandoning his unit with the National Guard and, you know, ducking service to Iraq. I want you to take a listen to exactly what Vance said, and then I'm going to break down some of the facts for you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: When the United States Marine Corps, when the United States of America asked me to go to Iraq to serve my country, I did it. I did what they asked me to do it, and I did it honorably, and I'm very proud of that service. When Tim Walz was asked by his country to go to Iraq, you know what he did? He dropped out of the army and allowed his unit to go without him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: Now those attacks aside, Fred, I want to be very clear, both Walz and Vance are military veterans, and they both have served their country. That much is clear, and that's what we know. But these attacks from Vance are really focusing on the end of Walz's military career. So we know that he was in the National Guard for 24 years. I'm going to break down the end of that timeline, though.

So in February of 2005, he filed paperwork as a congressional candidate. In March of 2005, the Guard announced a possible deployment within two years. May 2005, Walz retired from the guard again, after serving for 24 years. And then in July, 2005, the unit received an order to deploy. And that's according to the Minnesota National Guard.

Now, one thing here is that we have not yet heard directly from Walz himself responding to some of these attacks. We have, however, pulled back and looked back at 2009 when he addressed some of these claims, and he said that essentially, the reason that he wanted to retire in 2005 is because he was already looking at trying to run for Congress, and that there were concerns about the Hatch Act, which, as we know, prevents federal employees from engaging in political activities.

And one thing I didn't mention in that rundown is that he actually did deploy at one point, but it was to Italy in effort to support some of the -- the war in Iraq. Now I'm going to go into Vance's record on this, because I think it is important to just point this out, given that's what -- which -- what Vance is talking about.

So Vance had served for four years in the Marine Corps. He served as a combat correspondent and deployed to Iraq for roughly six months, though he says that he did not actually experience combat, and then he left service in September of 2007 as a corporal. Now, Fred, again, all of this aside, and I really do want to point -- put a finer point on the strategy here, is that the goal of these attacks is to try and undermine both Walz's, but also the Harris campaign in general, their credibility. We're seeing attacks on character.

[08:20:09]

We're really trying to see Vance, and this is what he's been tasked to do, I know, by the Trump campaign, is to throw sand in the eyes of the opponents. I think a big question, what remains unclear is whether or not these attacks will be effective. But that is definitely the goal of what he was trying to do in Michigan. Fred?

WHITFIELD: All right, thank you. Alayna Treene in Washington, appreciate it.

All right, still to come, how Team USA's Quincy Hall snatches victory in the 400 meter race, pretty extraordinary.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: OK. Let's check in on the Olympics right now. There was more drama on the track on Wednesday, America's Quincy Hall stormed home in the 400 meters. He trailed for much of the race, but then a burst of stamina and fight passing Great Britain's Matthew Hudson- Smith at the finish line. He took home the gold. There were 27 gold medal events today, as we check in on the medal tally right now, the U.S. is leading with 27 gold medals, followed by China with 26 and Australia is third, with 18 gold so far, making it the country's most successful games ever. CNN's World Sports, Amanda Davies, is in Paris for us. Amanda, wow, that was some kind of 400 race yesterday.

AMADA DAVIES, CNN WORLD SPORTS ANCHOR: It really was. You could not write Quincy all of another incredible comeback. He's from Missouri. His profile page, interestingly, at the Olympic Games, says his name was just to take part here in -- in Paris, but he is now celebrating goals, having taken that 400 victory in a personal best time. And it was really quick. The fourth fastest time ever ran over the distance.

He came from fourth to first to beat the pre-race favorite Hudson- Smith, as you mentioned. I mean, the fight and the grit he showed was clear for everyone to see. He willed himself over the line. And when he was asked how he did it, he just said, you can't outrun a dog.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUINCY HALL, U.S. OLYMPIC ATHLETE: The race was anyone at that point. I just wanted to keep doing what my coach told me to do, just keep driving and keep driving, get home. We do a lot of hard practices. And then we -- we focus on coming home at the end of each practice. So that was none, more than just me trying to go harder, just harder and harder in what I'm used to doing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DAVIES: We also -- we also had a rematch of the world championship battle in Budapest in the final of the women's pole vault, two athletes who shared gold in that one, this time with Australia's Nina Kennedy, taking the victory ahead of her U.S. rival and the defending champion, Katie Moon, who finished with silver. Kennedy had missed out on the final in Tokyo three years ago through injury. She's openly talked about her struggles with depression. But this time, she soared to the heights of Olympic gold, giving Australia their first ever gold in the event. And it means they've now had their most successful Olympic games to date.

[08:25:01]

Still four days of competition left to run though, with 27 medals on offer on Thursday and one of the most brutal events, the women's hep tackle on has kicked off this morning, Belgium's Nafi Thiam chasing history, looking to become the first woman to win three Olympic gold. But the world champion from last year, Katarina Johnson-Thompson, and Team USA's Anna Hall very much hoping to have their say.

The big question for later, can Noah Lyles become the first man since Usain Bolt to do the 100 meter, 200 double at the Olympic Games? He's unbeaten over the distance in 23 races, dating all the way back to the final in Tokyo three years ago. This is the one he sees as his favorite event, his best chance of breaking a world record. He says the 200 is like his wife, the 100 like his mistress, a bit more unpredictable. But it was his U.S. teammate, Kenny Bednarek, silver medalist in Tokyo, who passed the first time in the heats. And he's saying, after his 100 meter disappointment, he is a man on a mission for this one.

But following that one on the track, we have the head to head that people have been waiting two years for in the women's 400 meter hurdles, defending Olympic Champion Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone up against World Champion Femke Bol, two athletes whose times are a second and a half faster than anybody else in the field. They are the only ones to have broken 51 seconds. It's going to be a tough night a lot people talking about football beating Sydney Levrone as described as the impossible job, but it might be impossible. It's the one we're all going to be tuned in to watch.

WHITFIELD: Oh yes, we'll be at the edge of our seats. I cannot wait. All right, thank you so much, Amanda Davies from Paris.

All right, well, few athletes are as dominant in their sport as American swimmer Katie Ledecky. For years, she has been untouchable in the long distance swimming, and that has continued in Paris. At just 27 years old, she's the most decorated female U.S. Olympian of all time, adding four medals, including two gold at this Olympic Games. She caught up with CNN's Coy Wire, or he caught up with her.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Nine gold medals, 14 overall. If -- if these medals from these games could talk, what would they say about how special these games have been?

KATIE LEDECKY, 9-TIME U.S. OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST: I think they would cheer. I think, you know, the energy here in Paris has been incredible, so I think they're just joining on the -- the cheering that all the Parisians have been giving to all the athletes here.

WIRE: Yes. One thing I notice in our conversations, and anytime someone asks, you know, what has it taken for you to be able to do what you do? And -- and you say, stuck to the process. I take one day at a time. I sacrifice. And that is true, it can be that simple. And it is. But what are some of the things that maybe you take for granted that you do or have done over the years that other people might find fascinating?

LEDECKY: I think I -- I just try really hard to be consistent each year. You know, it's not just every four years for me. I'm competing at World Championships in between Olympics and a lot of other meets as well. So it's not just a few races every four years. It's a lot of -- a lot of training, a lot of races in between these big moments.

WIRE: Yes, your beautiful family is here, finally. What is it like having them here this time after Tokyo? LEDECKY: It's great to have family and friends back at -- at the Olympics, after not being there in Tokyo, it's just been a great environment, great atmosphere, and very special to share the moments after competition with all of them, get to celebrate and soak in a little bit of Paris.

WIRE: Now, Simone Biles told me she would be a honey badger in the gym, a sloth at home, though. What would your spirit animal be to describe the aura of Katie Ledecky?

LEDECKY: I think I would have to say a porpoise, because my -- my summer league --

WIRE: OK.

LEDECKY: -- swim team, we were the Palisades porpoises, so that's my go to answer, yes. And obviously I love the water, so.

WIRE: That's really good. Do you do any porpoise sounds, any dolphin sound?

LEDECKY: I don't -- I don't know if you want to hear that.

WIRE: All right, one more fun thing before we go, when they build a statue of you someday, let's do what's the pose going to be? What's the Katie, the Katie Ledecky pose?

LEDECKY: I do not know.

WIRE: Come on, come on.

LEDECKY: I don't know.

WIRE: I've seen you do better.

LEDECKY: This.

WIRE: I've seen --

LEDECKY: Like a fist bump.

WIRE: Oh, there we go. Let's do that right there.

LEDECKY: Yes. Fist bump. Yes.

WIRE: As for Katie Ledecky goes statue.

LEDECKY: Yes.

WIRE: Thanks for joining us.

(CROSSTALK)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Putting her on -- putting her on the spot as she handled it well.

All right. Still to come, the Democratic vice presidential candidate is facing questions about his dozens of visits abroad. Tim Walz and the China connection straight ahead.

[08:29:44]

Plus, Vladimir Putin calls it a large scale provocation. Moscow is reportedly fighting Ukrainian troops for a third day after Kyiv launched a brazen attack on Russian soil.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, in the race for the White House, Kamala Harris and her running mate, Tim Walz, have hit the campaign trail across the U.S. Midwest. The two held rallies in Wisconsin and rallied in Michigan on Wednesday as part of a battleground Blitz, this week.

They have another campaign event in Detroit today and then head to Arizona. Donald Trump, meantime, will hold a news conference at 2 o'clock Eastern time today at Mar-a-Lago.

Walz's sudden rise to national prominence is, of course, bringing scrutiny from Republicans looking to attack his record, and that includes his long history with China. The GOP is seizing on his dozens of visits to that country over the past 35 years, taking students on school trips and even going there on his honeymoon. CNN's Will Ripley has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the summer of 1989, about two months after China's military massacred pro-democracy protesters in Tiananmen Square, Tim Walz, an American teacher fresh out of college, traveled halfway around the world to China, paying respects in Beijing where so many people died.

GOV. TIM WALZ (D-MN), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I felt it was more important than ever to go, to make sure that story was told and to let Chinese -- the Chinese people know we were standing there. We were with them.

HARRIS: Welcome the next vice president of the United States, Tim Walz.

RIPLEY (voice-over): Thirty-five years before becoming the Democratic nominee for vice president, Walz volunteered to spend a year in China, teaching English and American history to Mainland Chinese students.

The Nebraska native later telling his hometown newspapers he was treated like a king, and there was no anti-American feeling whatsoever. Walz moved to Minnesota, teaching high school there for years. He got married on June 4th, 1994, the fifth anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre. He wanted to have a date he'll always remember, his wife told a local paper at the time. They spent their honeymoon taking students on a two-week tour of China, Hong Kong, and Macau. Those student trips became a summer tradition.

CARA ROEMHILDT, FORMER WALZ STUDENT: I would go back in a heartbeat, in a heartbeat. Because it wasn't political for us. It wasn't any of that. It was -- it was an educational trip with one of our favorite teachers.

RIPLEY (voice-over): Cara Roemhildt says she and her classmates still talk about their trip to China with Mr. Walz in 1998.

[08:35:07]

ROEMHILDT: It felt very, very comfortable. And we went all over, you know, train rides, a whole bunch of different places, just seeing a different culture and -- and having respect for it while seeing it. Knowing that it's different, but knowing that that's ok too.

RIPLEY (voice-over): Since entering politics in 2006, Walz has consistently criticized China's human rights record. In Congress, he co-sponsored a resolution condemning the arrest of Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo. He also met with the exiled Dalai Lama in 2016.

WALZ: Ni men hao Male: , Governor Tim Walz here. Happy Chinese New Year.

RIPLEY (voice-over): All the while, advocating empathy for everyday Chinese people. Supporters say his understanding of the country could lead to more informed, pragmatic policies.

Critics, like Republican Richard Grenell, a former Trump ambassador to Germany, label Walz pro-China. And on China's tightly-controlled Internet, some question Walz's reasons for traveling to China the same year as the Tiananmen protests.

"1989? Great timing. The years he was in China make him suspicious." Comments untouched by government censors.

RIPLEY: But they are censoring CNN's live signal inside China earlier when this report aired. They went to bars and tone the minute that we started talking about Tiananmen Square. And this illustrates the challenge that China will face in portraying Tim Walz. Yes, he made around 30 trips to China. He humanizes the Chinese people. He knows how things work over there.

But he's also co-sponsored a series of resolutions supporting human rights in China and Hong Kong and has been a fierce critic of the Chinese government.

Will Ripley, CNN, Taipei.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, Moscow is fighting Ukrainian forces for a third day after an incursion by Kyiv into Russia's Kursk Region. The brazen attack by Ukraine appears to be one of the largest since the two-year war began. Russian -- Russia claimed, Thursday, that it halted attempts by Ukrainian troops to break deep into Russian territory. But those claims seem to be at odds with reports on the ground of heavy shelling. Neither Ukraine's military nor the government have commented about the operation. CNN's Claire Sebastian has the latest from London. Good morning. Good day to you. What is Ukraine hoping to achieve with this military operation?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Fred, that's the big question. And as yet, as you say, they are not officially saying anything at all about this, so we have no real way of knowing. But it could be a number of things that they could stand to gain from this. One of course, is that we've seen Russia open a new front in the north in recent months, in the Kharkiv region, just a few hundred kilometers to the southeast of where we see the action happening.

Now, it may be that Ukraine is trying to get ahead of another attempt like that, trying to do use attack, essentially, as a means of defense. They may also be trying to distract Russian forces who have been inching forward on the Eastern Front, to pull resources away from that. I -- I think you know that is potentially a risk for Ukraine, because it moves their own forces, which are, we know, in short supply, away from that eastern front as well.

Could this also be a territorial play by Ukraine, there has been some speculation that they may want to actually capture and hold on to territory inside of Russia to use that as leverage in potential future negotiations. That really would be a new chapter in this conflict if they were trying to do that. Now, Russia, as you say, is claiming to have prevented Ukraine from moving forward, the Ministry of Defense saying that it has brought in new resources, reserves, missile forces, air strikes, things like that, to stop the advance.

The Ministry of Defense has put out new video, which it claims shows this is it -- shows it targeting Ukrainian armored vehicles, including they -- they claim a U.S. made Bradley. We have geolocated this video to inside the Russian -- inside Russian territory in the Kursk Region, not far from the border. And so they are saying that they are in control of this. The video evidence that we have reviewed suggests that Ukrainian efforts to -- to push forward in this region are very much still ongoing.

WHITFIELD: Claire Sebastian, thank you so much.

[08:39:26]

All right, still to come. Uvalde's former school police chief, goes one on one with CNN. He defends his department's slow response the day a gunman opened fire in a Texas school, killing 20. The exclusive interview coming up.

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WHITFIELD: All right, the latest U.S. weekly jobless job report is just out. Weekly jobless claims fell to 233,000 that's less than expected. This report could receive even more attention than usual in the wake of the week of July jobs report that sparked fears of a possible U.S. recession, the U.S. futures show a positive opening on Wall Street in the next hour, they had been mixed before the jobless claims came out. Let's go live now to New York in CNN's Julia Chatterley. All right, Julia, good to see you. Good morning after last Friday's off July jobs report, will investors be extra attentive to this weekly update?

JULIA CHATTERLEY, CNN ANCHORE, FIRST MOVE: and then some. And you can already see that in the reaction that we're seeing pre market, because we've gone from basically being unchanged to now being super positive. And the reason being that this data is better than expected, to your point, we were worried about what's going on in the jobs market. This is the first time since Friday. We've got any kind of hints about what's going on.

And what we saw was less people claiming first time benefits than were as expected, it came in at 233,000 as you mentioned, that's down from 250,000 that we were expecting, there's actually a bit of an improvement as well on the number, the overall number of people that are continuing to claim benefits as well.

And one of the things that stands out from this, in me is a 7,000 drop in the number of people that were asking for benefits in Texas. Why do we care about Texas? Well, that was because when the data was collected for that jobs number on Friday, Hurricane Beryl was impacting what was going on in that state. So it sort of hints that perhaps the weakness that we saw on Friday may also be tied to some of the weather related impact that we were seeing in states like Texas.

So ordinarily, I would not be getting so excited about any kind of data point like this that we see on a weekly basis, but given the concerns about the jobs market, there is a lot of focus on this, and people are relieved it still, by the way, means that we've got a whole host of people that are asking for help and need unemployment benefits. So it's not really a good number, but it is better than expected, Fredricka, and that's what we care about today.

WHITFIELD: Yes, improvements are, that's always a good word, improvement.

CHATTERLEY: Precisely. Improvement.

WHITFIELD: I like that. Yes.

CHATTERLEY: I like it. Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, Julia Chatterley, thank you so much.

Anti-racism protesters appear to have prevented a new round of riots in the U.K. Thousands of people found out across more than a dozen cities on Wednesday to stand up for far right rioters. Police beefed up their presence as well. And it's still not clear if this marks a turning point after days of violence. Far right supporters did not show up at the immigration and visa processing centers that authorities thought they might target. And more than two years after a gunman opened fire in an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, killing 19 children and two teachers. The school's former police chief, Pete Arredondo, is finally speaking out. His department came under extreme scrutiny after they waited 77 minutes before taking the shooter out. In an exclusive interview with CNN's Ed Lavandera, Arredondo defends his actions that horrific day.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[08:45:09]

PETE ARREDONDO, INDICTED FORMER UVALDE SCHOOL POLICE CHIEF: Sir, this is Arredondo with the school district police. Can you please put your firearms down? We don't want anyone else hurt, sir.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For more than two years, the families of the 19 children and two teachers who were murdered inside a classroom of Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas, have waited to hear from this man, former school district police chief, Pete Arredondo.

LAVANDERA: What do you say then to those critics, and a lot of them are fellow law enforcement officers, who say you guys didn't handle the situation properly? And many people who, as tough as it might sound, consider you guys cowards with the way you act that day.

ARREDONDO: I strongly disagree and again, opinions vary, sir, and they're going to. But I can tell you that probably 100 percent of those people hadn't been in a situation like that before.

LAVANDERA: Do you feel like you guys are being singled out, scapegoated?

ARREDONDO: By all means, since the very beginning, sir. I've been scapegoated from the very beginning.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Nearly 400 law enforcement agents responded to the Robb Elementary shooting scene on May 24th, 2022. Arredondo has now been charged criminally for his actions that day, facing multiple felony counts of child endangerment. He and his lawyer, Paul Looney (ph), sat down with CNN and spoke for more than an hour about the shooting.

LAVANDERA: I keep thinking about, you know, what are the questions that the victims' families would want to ask you. And I think, ultimately, it all boils down to, it is like, how come officers didn't go into that room sooner?

ARREDONDO: Right, right.

LAVANDERA: What do you say to those families?

ARREDONDO: If you look at the bodycam footage, there was no hesitation in myself from the first handful of officers that went in there and went straight towards the hot zone, as you may call it, and took fire. And then at that point, we -- we worked with what we had. LAVANDERA: The protocols of -- as I understand it, of active shooter training is you go after the gunman and you focus on the gunman until he or she is taken out. That didn't happen in this case. Why not?

ARREDONDO: We -- we couldn't -- again, you can't see what is on the other side of a wall. At that point --

LAVANDERA: But you were supposed to get through that wall?

ARREDONDO: Right -- right. You can't -- you -- you can't see through it, first of all. So, when we are shot at and -- and we backed off to think, OK, now we know where he's at, because we don't -- we didn't know where he was at. That's when we took fire and backed out and realized, OK, now we need to come up with a plan and get back up there.

LAVANDERA: If I show you a couple of videos clips, would you mind? I'd love just to -- as we watched them, I'd love to get your perspective on what --

ARREDONDO: I'm sorry, but I'd rather not look at video clips, sir, I -- I just don't. I -- I just -- I just don't. I've kept myself from that. It's difficult for me to see that. These were my children too and people understand that. You know, we went down the hallways every day and stressed about keeping doors locked, stressed about being vigilant, and I -- the -- the -- the last I see of those clips, I don't have to, the -- the better for me.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): What the bodycam video clips that Arredondo refused to watch show, is that on that day in the hallway at 12:09 p.m., he said he knew there were likely victims in the room with the gunman.

ARREDONDO: As soon as they clear this room, I'm going to verify what's been vacated, guys, before we do any kind of breaching. Time is on our side right now. I know we probably have kids in there, but we've got to save the lives of the other ones.

LAVANDERA: In that moment when lives at stake, why did you think time was on your side?

ARREDONDO: I -- I don't recall making that statement. I'm sorry. There's -- there are some things that you don't recall while you're in the hallway.

LAVANDERA: As we've watched bodycam footage of what happened and how those 77 minutes unfolded inside Robb Elementary, you're on those tapes, constantly giving orders to other officers.

ARREDONDO: We're going to clear out before we -- before we do any breaching. We're going to clear out these kid's class.

LAVANDERA: The sense was that those officers were deferring to you as the lead officer. So, why shouldn't you bear the brunt of the responsibility of how all that unfolded? ARREDONDO: Sure. And -- and it's -- it's natural for me to give direction with what information you have while you're in there. And again, limited information was there on the inside.

ZAMORA: No entry until the chief of police gives you permission there.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Arredondo now claims there were state police officers from the Texas Department of Public Safety who arrived after him, who should have set up an incident command post and taken control of the scene.

ARREDONDO: The guidebook tells you the incident commander does not stand in a hallway and get shot at. Incident commander is someone that's not in the hot zone and is in -- in another location.

ZAMORA: Get ready for friendlies.

ARREDONDO: Tell them to -- wait.

ZAMORA: Nobody enter.

LAVANDERA: Do you think you made any mistakes that day?

ARREDONDO: Again, that's a hindsight statement. I -- you know, you can think all day and second guess yourself. I know we did the best we could with what we had. And -- and by running into that building and not leaving there and doing what we could or doing what I could and what the other officers could, it was the best we could with the situation we had and the information we had.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[08:49:58]

WHITFIELD: And that was CNN's Ed Lavandera reporting. And just to note, CNN has reached out to Texas Department of Public Safety state troopers for reaction to Arredondo's comments, and we have not yet heard back from them. All right, more news after the break.

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WHITFIELD: Tropical Storm Debby made its second landfall along the U.S. South Carolina coast earlier today. And with it, the storm brought gusty winds, heavy rain, flooding and thousands of power outages across the Carolinas. Debby also spawned at least 10 tornados so far. A confirmed Twister tore apart this school that you see right here in North Carolina. And right now, more than 5 million people across the southeast remain under a tornado watch. CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar has the latest on Tropical Storm Debby, while its distinction seems like it was kind of mild, it's caused a lot of damage.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And a lot of that has to do with just how slow it has moved, because that gives it a tremendous amount of time to do some damage, whether that's in the form of, say, tornadoes that we saw here. This was one of potentially three tornadoes just to hit the state of North Carolina alone, but also flooding, that's been another component of this too.

Now we still have the potential for some tornadoes as we go throughout the rest of the day. This tornado watch, which is valid for portions of North Carolina and Virginia until 1:00 p.m. eastern local time there. But you can see a lot of these rain bands continuing to push inland and northward. We've had often on tornado warnings throughout much of the day. Those could continue as we go through the afternoon hours, but the moisture too is also starting to spread into northern states like Virginia, Maryland, even starting to creep into portions of Delaware too.

But again, the most widespread threat with this storm has certainly been the flooding all of these red counties you see here highlighted, those are flash flood warnings. This white one right here is a flash flood emergency. They've had up to eight inches of rain already fall in that location. And you can see pretty widespread areas of here of that six to 10 inches. But again, we're going to be adding on top of that, and so that's why you still have that potential for some of that flooding to occur, not only today, but also tomorrow, as more of that moisture spreads into the mid-Atlantic and even the northeast.

Look at this, you've got that wide swath of yellow that's two to four inches. And then within that, you're going to have some areas that are embedded with five, six, even seven inches of rain. Again, for some areas, that's on top of what has already fallen. So that's why flooding is going to be a big concern.

Now, the one thing to note, the piece of good news is this is really going to start to pick up in speed. So notice today, just 24 hours from now, notice that location well into the mid-Atlantic. So we're finally going to start to get a reprieve for some of those southeastern states. And then by Friday evening into Saturday, most of the moisture is even gone from much of the Northeast. You have maybe some of it lingering across maybe New Hampshire, Maine. That's about it.

The bulk of it either goes out to sea or heads up into Canada. So again, you're going to start to see at least a reprieve for a lot of those folks that have been down in the southeast, Fred, that really need a break from a lot of the rain.

WHITFIELD: Sure do. All right, Allison Chinchar, thanks so much.

All right, climate change is threatening the existence of one of the Earth's great natural wonders. According to a new report, water temperatures in and around Australia's Great Barrier Reef have hit their highest levels in at least 400 years, and scientists say the reef likely won't survive if more isn't done to rain in Climate change. The Great Barrier Reef has had four mass coral bleaching events in seven years due to marine heat waves. The reefs are able to recover from these bleaching events, but only if the water temperatures drop and the conditions return to normal.

[08:55:16]

All right, two dogs unwittingly become the face of a fire safety video after one of them was caught on camera accidentally starting a house fire by chewing on a lithium ion battery. And this happened in Tulsa, Oklahoma, at, whoa, right there after the fire broke out, the pets escaped through a dog door and were not injured, but the home sustained significant damage. Look at them watching it for a while. Fire officials say it was -- it just goes to show how easily these devices can become fire hazards. So that's the lesson learned.

All right, thank you so much for joining me here in the CNN Newsroom. I'm Fredricka Whitefield. Connect the World with Becky Anderson is up next.

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