Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Trump and Harris Agree to Debate on September 10; Trump Repeatedly Attacks Harris, Calls Her Incompetent; Harris and Walz Rally Union Workers in Michigan; U.S., Qatar, Egypt Urge Gaza Ceasefire Talks Next Week; French Sports Minister Reflects on Success of Paris Games. Aired 4-4:30a ET
Aired August 09, 2024 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:00:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Kamala, who by the way is worse than Biden, and she's actually not as smart.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Former President Donald Trump gave a very wide- ranging press conference on Thursday.
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE U.S. (D) AND U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm glad that he's finally agreed to a debate on September 10th. I'm looking forward to it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Then she added that she's happy to talk about other debates that could take place after that period.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The fastest man in the world, Noah Lyles, taken down in the 200-meter final, revealing afterwards he was competing with COVID.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: Live from London, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Max Foster and Christina Macfarlane.
MACFARLANE: Hello, and a warm welcome to our viewers joining us from the United States and all around the world. I'm Christina Macfarlane. It is 10 a.m. here in Paris, where the Summer Olympics are heading into their final weekend. I'll have the latest results, including a close call for the American basketball team.
FOSTER: Where she was at. I'm Max Foster in London. It's 9 a.m. here in London, 4 a.m. in Washington.
Both U.S. presidential nominees have agreed to face off on the national stage of the debate on September 10th, but Kamala Harris has yet to reveal whether she'll commit to the other two debates suggested by Donald Trump. On Thursday, Trump tried to reclaim some of the spotlight from his
rival with a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate. The Harris campaign is calling Trump's rambling remarks a public meltdown. CNN's Kristen Holmes reports from Florida.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Former President Donald Trump gave a very wide-ranging press conference on Thursday, speaking for more than an hour, calling Kamala Harris his now-rival, barely competent, calling her names, attacking Tim Walz, her now- running mate on the Democratic ticket.
But he spent a lot of the time really doubling down on this new narrative that we've heard from the Republican Party. And that was part of why they did this press conference today, that Kamala Harris will not sit down for an interview, that she will not take questions from the press.
Here's what he said about this today.
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: She's not doing any news conference. You know why she's not doing it? Because she can't do a news conference. She doesn't know how to do a news conference. She's not smart enough to do a news conference.
HOLMES: And when I talked to campaign officials, they did want a split screen of the fact that Harris has not sat down with reporters, has not answered any of those questions.
But there was also some news made out of this press conference, the fact that Donald Trump agreed to three debates with Kamala Harris, one of them being the debate that he had agreed to with President Joe Biden on ABC on September 10th. Of course, he had agreed to that, then reneged. Now he is saying he will, in fact, do that debate.
The other thing that was asked of him, partly by me, partly by other reporters, was why he wasn't campaigning more, why his campaign doesn't seem to have changed. And he said that he didn't need to campaign, that he was leading by so much. But if you talk to his senior officials and advisors, they know that's not the case.
They know that there's been a change in this ticket and in this race, given the enthusiasm we now see around Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, the enthusiasm that is there that wasn't there for President Joe Biden. But clearly, Donald Trump getting under his skin, what he is seeing on the other side here with Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, part of that being the crowd size. He said there wasn't that much enthusiasm on that side.
When he was asked about the fact that there was more bigger events for Harris than we had seen for Joe Biden, he instead lashed out at the media, saying the media inflated her numbers and downplayed his numbers.
The one thing is clear, he was out there, he was talking to reporters, and he is definitely on the offensive right now as we are heading closer and closer to November.
Kristen Holmes, CNN, West Palm Beach, Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Capitalizing on their momentum, Harris and her running mates are tearing through several battleground states this week. That includes Michigan, where the Democratic contenders are wooing union workers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: You know, there's some perversion that's happened in our country in the last several years, where there's a suggestion that somehow strength is about making people feel small, making people feel alone. But isn't that the very opposite of what we know? Unions know to be strength. It's about the collective.
[04:05:00]
It's about understanding no-one should ever be made to fight alone. That we are all in this together.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: CNN's Arlette Saenz has more now from Detroit.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Vice President Kamala Harris sought to rally union workers as she's looking to build up support among rank-and-file union members heading into November's election. Harris capped off a two-day swing through Detroit with a stop at a local UAW union hall, talking about how she is supportive of collective bargaining and wants to see fairness for workers in their contracts with major companies. It all comes as Harris is trying to draw a major contrast with Trump when it pertains to labor issues.
Her new running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, also spoke very bluntly about the contrast between the Harris campaign and Trump. Take a listen.
GOV. TIM WALZ, D-MN, U.S. VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We know that unions built the middle class. The rest of America has to. You know who doesn't believe that? Donald Trump. This guy doesn't know the first thing about unity or service. He's too busy serving himself.
Again and again and again, you've seen it. He put himself above us. He weakened our country to strengthen his own hand.
SAENZ: Now, Harris' campaign has earned the backing of UAW leadership, but now she is facing the task of trying to earn the support of those rank-and-file members. Former President Donald Trump is also seeking to make his own appeals to working-class and rank-and-file union members heading into the November election. The Harris campaign has said they plan on spending hundreds of millions of dollars across battleground states to directly appeal to union workers.
Those type of workers will be key in battleground states like Michigan, but also in other blue-wall states like Pennsylvania and Wisconsin as Harris is trying to replicate Biden's victory in those three states in this November election.
Now, Harris, while she was on the ground in Detroit, also talked about the commitments she's making relating to presidential debates against Donald Trump. Harris told reporters that she is committed and looks forward to seeing Trump at an ABC debate on September 10th, but then she added that she's happy to talk about other debates that could take place after that period.
It comes after Trump himself has said that he's committing to three debates, one on Fox News, another on ABC, and one on NBC. Harris has yet to commit to those two other debates aside from ABC News, but she has said she's looking forward to debating Trump and laying out the contrast in their record and vision for the country heading into November's election.
Arlette Saenz, CNN, Detroit.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: The special counsel's office wants more time to prepare the case against Trump in connection with the 2020 election subversion allegations. After a year of pushing to move forward, now in the wake of the Supreme Court's sweeping decision on presidential immunity, Jack Smith's team say they need more time to figure out how to proceed. A delay would mean any further action in the case could take place only in September, the earliest. That's a short time, of course, before the presidential election.
A source said the Trump defense is happy to provide the extra time.
Now, the U.S., Qatar and Egypt are leading a new push for negotiations between Israel and Hamas.
They released a statement saying, in part: There's no further time to waste, nor excuses from any party for further delay. It's time to release the hostages, begin the ceasefire and implement this agreement.
Israel says it'll send a negotiating team to Cairo or Doha next week. Hamas hasn't responded. The entire region is on edge, bracing for possible Iranian or Hezbollah retaliation against Israel after the recent assassinations of senior Hezbollah and Hamas leaders.
Elliott is following all of this for us. I mean, the language we're getting from the mediators is the same we've had all along, but, you know, it's the progress that matters.
ELLIOTT GOTKINE, JOURNALIST: Right, but I think it's -- it looks pretty clear now that the pressure on Israel and Hamas has never been higher in the past nine months since the first ceasefire ended, what, back at the end of October. And so, clearly, they want this done, not just because they've been wanting to get this done for so long, but also because the hope is that if a deal can be done, then this could forestall, you know, the wider escalation that everyone is fearing.
And so, you know, in this quite unusual joint statement from President Biden and also his counterparts, the Emir of Qatar and the Egyptian president, saying that they want both sides to accept the ceasefire hostage deal to bring immediate relief to the long-suffering people of Gaza as well as the long-suffering hostages and their families.
And then we hear a senior administration official telling CNN that it's time to close this, that's the president's view, President Biden's view, saying that there are gaps but that the bulk of the work has been done and the deal really is there to be done.
But, of course, you know, and we've had this conversation, you know, so often over the past few months, there's always been, you know, optimism, it's kind of ebbed and flowed, we thought that we were close to a deal and then something has come up or the deal just hasn't gotten over the line.
But it does seem that now, and, you know, I don't want to tempt fate, that the pressure is such that perhaps this could be the thing that pushes things over the line.
[04:10:02]
But now that Yahya Sinwar has been kind of replaced Ismail Haniyeh, not just as, obviously, already the military leader and the architect of the October 7th terrorist attacks, but now also the head of the political bureau, he's seen to be much more hardline, closer to Iran, having more maximalist positions. That could also hamper the negotiations, not just the kind of assassination of a Hamas leader in itself.
FOSTER: And the context of this, of course, as you were suggesting, was, you know, the retaliation from Iran and Hezbollah. Is anyone questioning whether that's going to happen or are we wondering if there's a peace deal, the retaliation won't be as severe as it would have been?
GOTKINE: Look, there's hope that it may not happen or they won't be as severe, but Iran has kind of boxed itself into a rhetorical corner, saying, you know, among other things, we've heard from Ayatollah Khamenei, Supreme Leader, saying, we see avenging the blood of Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed, of course, in Tehran, as our duty, and saying also to Israel, which hasn't claimed responsibility for that assassination, saying you have paved the way for your harsh punishment.
And then we've already got kind of anticipatory, you know, rhetoric from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for example, saying we will respond and exact a heavy price for any act of aggression against us from any arena. He who plays with fire may expect destruction. That was from Yoav Gallant, the Israeli defense minister.
So for now, it's just the war of words that's escalating. But certainly President Macron, in a conversation with the new Iranian president, was saying that, look, retaliation needs to be taken off the table. We had kind of mixed words from the president, saying that if the West wants to prevent a war, then it should focus on getting a ceasefire.
But then you have the mission to the United Nations from Iran saying that, you know, punishment is coming, and we've seen stuff from, you know, for example, Hezbollah's leader Nasrallah, you know, posting on Twitter, you know, maybe tonight, maybe tomorrow, maybe in a week, and that making Israel wait is part of the punishment. So still very much on edge. A retaliation is expected.
What form that will take, how large it will be, and what response from Israel that will engender, we really just don't know.
FOSTER: OK, Elliott, thank you. We'll be watching, of course.
And we're also watching Russian forces trying to repel Ukraine's largest incursion so far in more than two years of war.
Now, Russian officials say the fighting appears to be ongoing in the Kursk region, bordering Ukraine, and 66 people have been wounded. According to the Kremlin, President Vladimir Putin met with regional leaders on Thursday and said there would be compensation for those forced to evacuate. Some residents appealed for help on social media, rejecting Moscow's claims the situation's under control.
A Ukrainian presidential adviser praised Western allies who've said they have no issue with the incursion. It's the first time Kyiv acknowledged the offensive. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy praised his country's troops on Thursday, though he didn't explicitly mention Kursk.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Ukrainians know how to achieve their goals, and we did not choose to achieve the goals in the war. Russia brought the war to our land and should feel what it has done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: We'll be back after a short break with the latest updates.
[04:15:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MACFARLANE: Hi, welcome back to Paris, where we are nearing the end of these Olympic Games. The final day is on the horizon, but we still have much more to come in the hours ahead. And the hours that have just gone, we have seen Hungary taking home the first medals of the day.
A gold and bronze in the men's 10-kilometer marathon swimming final just this morning. Germany nabbed the silver. And meanwhile, Team USA is on top of the Olympic medal board. Surprise, surprise, for now. The U.S. leads the pack with 30 gold medals, edging past China's 29 gold medals and bringing the American total medal count to 103. Well, CNN's Coy Wire recaps Thursday's dramatic scenes here in France.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COY WIRE, CNN WORLD SPORT: Huge storylines in Paris today. One of the biggest, the fastest man in the world, Noah Lyles, was taken down in the 200-meter final, revealing afterwards he was competing with COVID. U.S. track and field said after the race that Lyles tested positive on Tuesday. They followed CDC protocols to prevent the spread. Lyles said he went into quarantine but never considered not racing. He was wearing a mask in the holding area ahead of the race.
The 100-meter champ finished bronze, laid down on the track afterwards. Medical personnel took him away in a wheelchair. A stunning turn of events.
It was a packed Stade de France. It went from roars of chanting USA to wows as Letsile Teboho of Botswana flew past Lyles and American Kenny Bednarek who took the silver winning time, 19.46 seconds. Fifth fastest time in history, Letsile Teboho is the first African ever to win the 200 and he's Botswana's first ever Olympic gold medalist.
And she has done it again, American Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone breaking her own world record in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 50.37 seconds. It was a showdown final facing the Netherlands speedster Femke Bol. She finished bronze. American Anna Cockrell took silver but Sydney went on to do something nobody's ever done before in the event, winning back-to-back Olympic gold. Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone is now the most dominant in the event we've ever seen. She has broken the world record a mind-boggling six times.
Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan stunned the world with an Olympic record throw of 92.97 meters in the second round of the javelin final. It proved to be the unbeatable mark as Nadeem claimed the gold medal and dethroned India's Neeraj Chopra as Olympic champ. Nadeem is now Pakistan's first Olympic medal winner since 1992.
Finally, the United States men's basketball team survived a huge scare, erasing a double-digit fourth quarter deficit to beat Serbia and Nikola Jokic, 95-91 earning a spot in the gold medal game. Steph Curry scored a game-high 36 points. LeBron James tallied a triple- double.
[04:20:00]
The United States will face next host Nason France in the gold medal game on Saturday, a rematch from 2020. Paris will be rocking.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MACFARLANE: Well, joining me live here in Paris is French sports minister Amelie Oudea-Castera. It is so good to have you. I can think of no better person to talk to as we near the end of these Olympic Games. And my goodness, congratulations. It has been a resounding success. How are you feeling after all the build-up and the last fortnight?
AMELIE OUDEA-CASTERA, FRENCH SPORTS MINISTER: Well, thank you very much. I mean, yes, we are extremely happy. We are proud because we feel that we have been giving happiness to the whole world.
It's also provided to the French people, you know, a sense of unity at a time where political turmoil a little bit divided the nation over the last weeks. And it's also given us, like, a renewed confidence in our ability to achieve great things. I think this is also important for the future.
MACFARLANE: Has it been surprising to you that the French people have fully embraced these Olympics? Because there was a question mark over that, wasn't there, ahead of these Games?
OUDEA-CASTERA: There was a question mark, but it's good to feel, you know, that collective joy.
MACFARLANE: Yes.
OUDEA-CASTERA: Yes, the French people are sometimes hard to satisfy and to feel, you know, that atmosphere where everyone is happy, everyone is united, everyone like, you know, is in a spirit of brotherhood. It's really good.
MACFARLANE: And I can tell you on the streets here, everyone is so happy. It's unsettling positivity for Paris, I would call it.
Now listen, the Seine has been the centerpiece of these Olympic Games. You were in the Seine at the start of the Olympics. I know you were down there swimming in the Olympics. I know you were down there for the marathon just this morning.
OUDEA-CASTERA: Yes, absolutely.
MACFARLANE: But it has been an expensive centerpiece. I think something like 1.4 billion euros spent on this. And the legacy of this Seine was that, you know, once the Olympics are gone, the French people can enjoy swimming in this river.
Is that really going to happen, though? I mean, do people, French people, still really want to swim, given some of the controversies we've seen play out in the last two weeks?
OUDEA-CASTERA: Yes, it is going to happen. First, I would like to outline that, you know, we've been at the rendezvous. Five out of five competitions were able to happen and take place in the River Seine, with 100 percent of the indicators on the competition venue, strictly speaking, that were really impeccable.
So it's been a big investment, you're right, 1.4 billion. 50 percent of that paid by the French state, but it's going to be a fantastic legacy for the people, for the French people, but also for the visitors from all around the world, at a time when we have climate change, at a time also when we need to rebuild biodiversity.
MACFARLANE: It does seem --
OUDEA-CASTERA: You know that there are now 40 species living in the Seine versus only three a few years ago, so it's a true ecologic transformation that we're running there.
MACFARLANE: Well, that is good news, but we've seen though over the Olympics, it's very hard to maintain those levels in the Seine, isn't it? So I still think there might be work to be done there to convince Paris.
OUDEA-CASTERA: We won't be able to swim all year long, but during summertime, we will be able to swim, because we have built all these infrastructures that are going to last now. You know, it's not like just temporary adjustments, it's big engineering, structural, and it's going to be a great improvement in the quality of life.
MACFARLANE: I hope you are right. Now, you mentioned at the top there that this has been a honeymoon of sorts from the political crisis that is engulfing, that is current in France today, and as soon as these Olympic Games are over, all eyes are going to turn back to that political turmoil.
You still have no real government. Your President has yet to appoint a Prime Minister. When can we expect that to happen?
OUDEA-CASTERA: Well, that's his timing. He's going to decide on it. What I can tell you is that I think it's a fantastic demonstration for the whole country, that when we really unite our forces across, you know, the political parties believing in the Republic and its values, working with civil society, the OCOG, which has done fantastic work, mobilizing the association, the sport movement, everyone working together with high ambitions, France is capable to achieve great things.
I think this is the central message, and we're going to finish these Olympics with that feeling, and it has to give us trust, confidence in our ability to achieve fantastic things when we work hard, when we work together, and when we put the bar high.
MACFARLANE: So you think that goodwill will continue past these Olympic Games and we are not going to see scenes of chaos? You're not fearful for what's coming next?
OUDEA-CASTERA: No, we're not fearful. You know, we've been, you know, overcoming many obstacles.
[04:25:00]
So many people on so many fronts felt that we would not be capable to do that. And we have delivered what is maybe, so far, probably the most spectacular, I mean, if I believe what we read, the most spectacular Games ever. So, sense of pride, sense of humility, because it's been a huge collective work and lots of efforts. Nothing good, nothing great can be done without all these efforts. But if we are capable to unite and to be energized by this success, I think France will keep surprising the world.
MACFARLANE: And this will be your last stand as well, because you are set to leave your position as well. I'm sure you feel very proud of what you have achieved here at these Olympic Games. And we thank you for speaking to us. I hope that this goodwill and this legacy will carry on for France.
OUDEA-CASTERA: I think it's a good lesson, because efforts always pay off. You know, I've been a former, I'm a former athlete, and that belief, when you work hard, high ambitions, with a great team spirit, you can always, you know, deliver on your dreams. We're proud, and we know that you guys are going to do something fantastic for 2028. I think the United States will astonish the world again.
MACFARLANE: Over to you, LA. A lot of pressure to live up to what Paris has done here.
OUDEA-CASTERA: And congratulations on the (INAUDIBLE) results.
MACFARLANE: Thank you. Thank you so much.
OUDEA-CASTERA: We want to do something great on Sunday.
MACFARLANE: Well, let's talk about it on Sunday, because we do have to wrap now. But Amelie, it's been great to have you with us. All eyes on LA next, and I'll be back a little later to look at some of the events planned for the hours ahead. Stay with us.
FOSTER: Summer swimming in the Seine does sound like a lovely idea, Chrissie. I think you should try it for us. I'll arrange some goggles for you.
Thanks, Chrissie. We'll be back with her later.
Donald Trump set to return to the campaign trail as Kamala Harris sweeps through battleground states. We'll have the latest analysis on the U.S. presidential race.
Plus, we have new police body cam footage of the moments right before a gunman tried to assassinate Donald Trump. Details just ahead.
