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Noah Lyles Goes For Another Gold; How to Eat Healthy; Interview With Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL); Lawsuit Filed Over Titan Sub Implosion. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired August 08, 2024 - 11:30   ET

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

[11:32:53]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Welcome back to a special edition of the CNN NEWSROOM live from Tel Aviv.

Here in Israel, officials are on edge right now as they warn the United States that they're prepared to launch -- and I'm quoting now -- a disproportionate attack if, if Hezbollah in Lebanon harms Israeli civilians with strikes.

Sources tell CNN that the Iranian-backed militant group is planning to attack Israel with or without Iran's help.

Joining us now is Democratic Congressman Jared Moskowitz of Florida. He serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Congressman, thank you so much for joining us. I know you're being fully briefed on what's going on over here in Israel.

How real is the threat of a regional war breaking out right now?

REP. JARED MOSKOWITZ (D-FL): Thanks, Wolf. Thanks for having me. Thanks for being in Tel Aviv.

No, the threat is real, obviously. That's why you see the entire apparatus of the United States government, State Department, DOD working over time with our allies in the regions, why it's good to have friends. That's why Joe Biden has focused so much on that, to try to prevent a regional war.

This, of course, is because Iran and Hezbollah are threatening a disproportionate response. Israel the last couple of weeks, obviously, has been taking out the people responsible for October 7, not mass strikes in Lebanon or in Iran, but that's now what Iran and Hezbollah are threatening Israel, major strikes on the civilian population.

And so, hopefully, it doesn't happen. Hopefully, this can be contained. But, yes, in the event -- I agree with the Israelis. In the event that Hezbollah or Iran strikes the Israeli population, Israel should respond disproportionately.

BLITZER: What is the U.S. prepared to do, Congressman, if, if Hezbollah launches a full-scale air assault on Israel with all the rockets and missiles and drones and projectiles that they have accumulated in recent years?

MOSKOWITZ: Well, listen, I mean, I think the Biden/Harris administration should communicate that all options are on the table.

[11:35:05]

But that's a decision, obviously, for the president to decide what they're willing to do. I think, at a minimum, we will see exactly what happened last time Iran launched hundreds of missiles, including ballistic missiles, towards Israel. There was a coalition of countries in the area led by the United States and folks from Europe making sure that we created basically a shield around the state of Israel.

This time, I think, will be slightly different, in that, if the attack is anything bigger than that, if the attack is targeted more towards the civilian population, towards civilian infrastructure, I do think you will see Israel respond.

And that's where we try to make sure that we can contain it from becoming a regional conflict. But how can Israel continue to survive with these threats on their border, with Hezbollah and Iran? It's super clear. It should be very clear to everybody that they have been saying this for years. Now they're willing to do it, which is to try to wipe Israel off the face of the Earth.

And so Israel needs to do what it can to maintain its long-term survival in the region.

BLITZER: And, as you know, Israeli officials say their response will be -- quote -- "disproportionate" if an attack harms Israeli civilians.

Are you concerned, though, that their response, the Israeli response, potentially could go too far?

MOSKOWITZ: Well, look, we should always be concerned about that, but why is it always on Israel? Here we go again with the same conversation. It's Israel. It's Israel.

So, Iran and Hezbollah, they get to have a disproportionate response to Israel taking out the leaders, the murderers of October 7, individuals, not civilians in the population, not taking out Iranian infrastructure, not taking out infrastructure in Lebanon. They get to now have a disproportionate response to that, but then we say to the Israelis, you don't get to respond in the same way.

And so, look, I -- ultimately, we want to do everything we can to prevent a regional war. But I do think Israel should continue to communicate and needs to do what they can militarily to eliminate these threats on their border. Otherwise, this is just going to continue.

We may pause it for a period of time now, and then it will heat up again in a couple of weeks or months. So, Israel needs to do what it can to show Iran and Hezbollah that you just don't get to attack Israel for free. BLITZER: Would you support a preemptive Israeli strike?

MOSKOWITZ: I mean, you would have to have really actionable intelligence on specific individuals, or you would have to have actionable intelligence that there was going to be an imminent missile launch from specific military locations.

I will leave that up to the military leaders. The United States is on the ground, obviously, with the Israelis. But, otherwise, I think Israel right now is in a defensive position, trying to see what's coming their way.

BLITZER: Yes, the head of the -- the commander of the U.S. military's Central Command, which oversees the entire Middle East, General Erik Kurilla, has been in Israel over these past several days coordinating with the Israeli military. We will see how all of that unfolds.

I want to quickly ask you, before I let you go, Congressman, last night, Vice President Kamala Harris shut down pro-Palestinian protesters at her campaign rally in Detroit, Michigan. Listen and watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (D) AND U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm here because we believe in democracy. Everyone's voice matters, but I am speaking now.

You know what? If you want Donald Trump to win, then say that. Otherwise, I'm speaking.

(CHEERING)

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Congressman, what do you make of the vice president's response to those protesters?

MOSKOWITZ: Well, look, I thought that was a good moment for the vice president.

And, look, I give her credit, right? She has tried to show compassion. She has tried to listen to all sides of this argument. She even told those people: Talk to my staff, and I'm willing to listen and take a meeting, right?

She has been doing that, quite frankly, as vice president, really since October 7, trying to do that.

But these people have followed her for months everywhere, right, yelling the word "Genocide," which is not true. There is no genocide going on in Israel. It's been a fake smear of both Israel and Joe Biden from the beginning. And -- but it also should be a lesson, which is these people are going

to do that. You can't placate them. They want the United States to cut off Israel as our ally, period, no aid, no military support, just let -- give Israel to the Iranians. That's what they want.

[11:40:01]

And unless they get that, they're not going to stop. And so, obviously, look, she's got to go out and win an election. But also, at the end of the day, she's going to stand by our allies around the world, including Israel, against threats like Iran and Hezbollah.

BLITZER: Congressman Jared Moskowitz of Florida, thank you very much for joining us.

MOSKOWITZ: Thank you.

BLITZER: And still ahead: Family members of the doomed Titan sub crew have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the vessel's operator. We will have details. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: The family of a French explorer who died in last year's submersible implosion claims the crew suffered -- and I'm quoting now -- "terror and mental anguish" before the disaster.

[11:45:08]

They have now filed a $50 million wrongful death lawsuit, saying the sub's operator failed to disclose key facts about the doomed vessel.

I want to bring in CNN's Paula Newton, who's been covering the story for us.

What are you learning, Paula?

PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: You know, Wolf, you will remember this story well, right, the drama and, in fact, the hope from so many that, when that search-and-rescue was launched, that these crew members would be rescued. They were not.

At issue since then, Wolf, for the families especially, has been two things, right? Could this have been prevented, and, obviously, did our family members suffer? Did they know what was going on? And this lawsuit now filed in the United States, $50 million lawsuit from Paul- Henri Nargeolet, his estate, his family, alleges that both things are true.

And I want to read you just one statement from that lawsuit. And it says: "While the exact cause of failure may never be determined, experts agree that the Titan's crew would have realized exactly what was happening. Common sense dictates that the crew were well aware that they were going to die before dying."

Now, Wolf, you and I can well imagine the terror and, obviously, the horror that the families may be feeling. This lawsuit alleges that they know this to be true because the crew itself dropped the weights, meaning they aborted this dive about 90 minutes in. And, for that reason, they alleged that they know that their family members were suffering.

I will point out that OceanGate that ran this whole mission has declined any kind of comment. And the fact that, at this point in time, investigations are ongoing, again, so many things, so many questions to be determined as this investigation continues.

And, Wolf, there are people in these kinds of submersibles still, maybe not these kinds of ambitious projects, but it's an important question that has to be answered here as to why this tragedy happened.

BLITZER: It's certainly important, indeed, Paula Newton in Ottawa for us.

Paula, thank you very, very much.

And we will be right back with more news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:51:44]

BLITZER: At the Olympic Games in Paris, here's a closer look at the latest standings. The U.S. is leading in overall medals, while China has now taking the lead in gold medals with 28 right now.

And, today, Team USA will look to add more gold to its haul on the track. American star Noah Lyles is chasing Olympic glory in the men's 200-meter final set to kick off in just a few hours. If he wins, Lyles will become only the 10th man in Olympic history to win both the 100- meter and 200-meter races at the same Games.

CNN anchor and correspondent Coy Wire is joining us now from Paris.

Coy, Lyles clinched a really heartbreaking -- a heart-racing victory, I should say, in the 100 meters for his first gold. Can he do it again today?

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: That's the big question. It is hot here in Paris today. It's going to get hotter on that track.

Wolf, the newly crowned 100-meter champ, Noah Lyles, is going to put it all on the line for a chance at that elusive, dreamy double you mentioned. And if he can claim that 200-meter gold as well, he'd be the first person to do it since the legendary Usain Bolt. Only nine other men have done it.

I caught up with Noah ahead of these Games and asked him just how big he dreams. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NOAH LYLES, OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST: The impossible, truly. I mean, in my head, it's like I think of something and it's like, OK, has somebody done this? OK, if somebody hasn't done this, why haven't they done it? Why can't I be the first to do it?

That mentality goes to the idea of, if I shoot for the stars, if I fall, I land on the clouds.

WIRE: Three words to describe Noah Lyles.

LYLES: Creative, inspirational, icon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: And how about Quincy Hall, Wolf? Men's 400 meters, race of his life. He looked like he was done, rounding the final turn, fourth place, about five meters behind the leader.

But then his face full strain, gold grill and all, and he takes it. Other runners ran out of gas. Quincy Hall did not, 43.40 seconds. Now the 26-year-old first-time Olympian from Kansas City has a gold medal to match his gold grill.

Now, finally, Wolf, you have to see this. The future of athlete performance and recovery is now. Nike and Hyperice teamed up two years ago to create these game-changes you may have seen some of the Olympians wearing not yet available to the public.

First, this vest impacts the thermal regulation. If you're hot, you push a button. Vest gets cold electronically, no ice, no water. These things get to 30 degrees Fahrenheit within minutes. And if you're cold, you push another button and it warms you up, keeps you warm like an HVAC for your body.

These boots, they get the blood flowing in those ankles, this compressor here. Wolf, it's incredible. These athletes, LeBron James was asking for one. And they're like, we don't make size 16, LeBron. You're going to have to wait for that, Wolf.

(LAUGHTER)

BLITZER: I want one too. All right, Coy Wire in Paris for us.

Coy, thank you very much.

And, to our viewers, thanks very much for joining me. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Tel Aviv. I will be back later tonight, 6:00 p.m. Eastern, in "THE SITUATION ROOM."

Stay with us. "INSIDE POLITICS WITH DANA BASH" will start right after a short break.

But, first, a new study found that eating a diet high in fruits and vegetables may reduce your heart and kidney disease risk. This is just one of the latest examples of the benefits of eating healthy food.

[11:55:08]

Here's CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey there. I'm Dr. Sanjay Gupta, host of CNN's "Chasing Life" podcast.

Simply eating food that is good for you is not as easy as it sounds. It's probably in large part why nearly 75 percent of American adults are obese or overweight. So,

I want to give you some tools that could help you, starting with the back of every food package. First things first. Check the number of servings in the package. This is really important. Sometimes, you think the calorie count is for the whole package, but, in fact, it just represents one serving.

Now, look at the daily value of nutrients, the D.V. It's based on an average 2,000-calorie diet, and it can help serve as a guideline for how many nutrients you should be getting. A good trick to help you gauge whether the food contains enough of a nutrient is to use the 5/20 rule.

If the D.V. percent is 5 percent or less, that means it's relatively low in the nutrient, obviously, 20 percent or more, fairly high. And, finally, don't forget the ingredients list. Watch out for words you can't pronounce. If you can't pronounce it, you probably shouldn't eat it.

And you can hear more about how to optimize your health and chase life wherever you get your podcasts.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[12:00:00]