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Biden Opens Up About His Historic Decision To Exit Race; Harris To Eliminate Taxes On Tips; Hamas Doubted To Attend Negotiations On Thursday; Israel Bracing For Strikes From Iran and Hezbollah; Trump Campaign Blames Iran For Major Hack Operation; Hamas Casts Doubt On Whether It Will Attend Thursday Talks; Gymnast Jordan Chiles Stripped Of Bronze Medal. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired August 11, 2024 - 17:00   ET

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

[17:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: You are in the "CNN Newsroom." I'm Jessica Dean in New York.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: And I'm Wolf Blitzer in Tel Aviv. Tonight, new uncertainty here in the Middle East surrounding the upcoming ceasefire and hostage talks between Israel and Hamas. Hamas officials are now casting doubt on whether they will even attend the next scheduled meeting on Thursday. All this marks a step back in the process and comes with tensions clearly running very high here in the Middle East.

Israel is bracing for a possible retaliatory attack from Iran after the killing of a Hamas leader in Tehran with new intelligence now saying it could happen within days. We've got our reporters across the Middle East, and we'll have updates throughout the hour. In the meantime, Jessica, back to you.

DEAN: All right, Wolf, we will see you very soon. Back here in the U.S., we are learning more about President Biden's decision to pass the torch to his vice president, Kamala Harris. In his first sit-down interview since dropping out of the race exactly three weeks ago today, Biden admitted he always intended to be a one-term president, but said when it came to running a second time, quote, "things got moving so quickly."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: When I ran the first time, I thought of myself as being a transition president. I can't even say how old I am. It's hard for me to get it out of my mouth. And -- but things got moving so quickly, it didn't happen. But I thought it was important because although I -- it's a great honor being president, I think I have an obligation to the country to do what I -- the most important thing we can do, and that is we must, we must, we must defeat Trump.

(END VIDEO CLIP) DEAN: CNN senior White House correspondent -- our White House reporter, Kevin Liptak, is joining us now. And Kevin, did the president say what ultimately led him to make this difficult decision?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, he said that he abandoned his bid for president because he feared becoming a distraction for Democrats, not necessarily just at the top of the ticket, but down ballot as well for those in races for the House or for the Senate. You know, Jessica, it's so interesting to hear from him in his own words about this decision. We really haven't heard from him in a fulsome way since he decided to drop his bid for president.

He doesn't reveal any second thoughts about this decision, but certainly he does say that polls had shown him neck and neck with Donald Trump heading into it. But he said what ultimately led him to make this choice was a fear that he could be a drag on fellow Democrats. Listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: What happened was a number of my Democratic colleagues in the House and Senate thought that I was going to hurt them in the races. And I was concerned if I stayed in the race, that would be the topic you'd be interviewing me about. Why did Nancy Pelosi say? Why did someone? And I thought it'd be a real distraction.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIPTAK: Now, in this interview, the president denies that his poor debate performance revealed anything else about a larger health issue. He said he just had a really, really bad day in that debate because he was sick. And he really does make clear that his decision, original decision to run again for reelection was rooted in this fear that Donald Trump could retake the White House.

He talks about Donald Trump's potential support for white supremacists. He raises the issue of the Charlottesville rally back in 2017. He said that even the KKK has seen Trump as an ally and really makes very clear that he doesn't believe a peaceful transfer of power would take place if Trump were to lose the election.

DEAN: And Kevin, the president also talked about some plans for hitting the campaign trail and supporting Vice President Harris. What do we expect to see?

LIPTAK: And this is going to be interesting to see just how welcome President Biden will actually be on the campaign trail. He said in this interview that he's making plans for a tour of Pennsylvania. That's a state where he's from. He's enormously popular there. But he says he's going to do whatever Kamala thinks I can do to help the most.

[17:04:57]

Now, just this week, we will see Biden and Harris at their first official joint event since she became the Democratic standard bearer. They will be in Maryland talking about the economy. That will be an important moment for this passing of the torch between these two Democrats.

DEAN: All right, Kevin Liptak for us. Thank you so much. Vice President Kamala Harris appears to be taking a page from Donald Trump's policy proposals, ending the federal tax on tips. Speaking to thousands of supporters at a rally in Las Vegas last night, Harris offered one of her first notable economic policies since becoming the party's presumptive nominee.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: And it is my promise to everyone here when I am president, we will continue our fight for working families of America.

(CHEERS)

Including to raise the minimum wage -

(CHEERS)

And eliminate taxes on tips for service and hospitality workers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Now, Trump first floated the idea during his own Las Vegas rally back in June, and he immediately responded to Harris's pitch on True Social, calling her a, quote, "copycat." The Hospitality Workers Union and the Culinary Workers Union, both of which have endorsed Harris, have downplayed Trump's proposal with the Culinary Union secretary treasurer saying, quote, "Relief is definitely needed for tip earners. Nevada workers are smart enough to know the difference between real solutions and wild campaign promises from a convicted felon."

As the Harris-Walz campaign continues to capitalize on its momentum, the Trump-Vance team is trying best to adapt to the new state of this race. Trump spent the weekend campaigning and fundraising in red Republican states of Wyoming and Montana. Trump was able to bring in cash at a fundraising event with a $28 million haul.

Meantime, Trump's running mate, Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio, spoke to CNN's Dana Bash, attempting to respond to the attacks that he's weird.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

J.D. VANCE, REPUBLICAN VICE-PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: So I think that what it is, is two people, Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, who aren't comfortable in their own skin, because they aren't comfortable with their policy positions for the American people. And so they're name calling instead of actually telling the American people how they're going to make their lives better. I think that's weird, Dana, but like, they can call me whatever they want to.

DANA BASH, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: They have done both. They have both policies and they are trying to define this. But I want to --

VANCE: Dana, if you go to Kamala Harris's campaign page right now, they still don't have a policy --

BASH: Well, let's talk about policy versus --

VANCE: -- policy positions about what they're going to do. I think that's really insulting to Americans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Joining me now to discuss the latest on this presidential race is former Republican governor of Minnesota, Tim Pawlenty. Governor, thanks so much for being here with us this Sunday afternoon. We're glad to have you.

TIM PAWLENTY, FORMER GOVERNOR OF MINNESOTA: Good to be with you and your viewers, Jessica. Thank you.

DEAN: Thank you. You and Governor Tim Walz, obviously on opposite sides of the aisle. But I'm curious, how do you think he's performed on the trail this week and as Harris's pick?

PAWLENTY: Well, I don't agree with his politics, but I know Tim Walz. I've done a number of events with him over the years. He's likable. He's folksy. He's friendly. But the catch is this. He's extremely progressive. He's the most self-declared, most progressive governor in the country.

And you combine that with the top of the ticket, Vice President Harris, who is ranked as the most liberal senator in the United States Senate, and you have an extremely progressive, some would say socialist ticket that may be a bridge too far on policy for many Americans.

But they don't like Trump, those swing voters, too much either. So there's going to be a real dilemma with those swing voters as to which way they go.

DEAN: You know, it's interesting. I hear you and obviously that is the Republicans and Trump are trying to define them as a very liberal ticket. But that New York Times-Siena poll of Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania came out, only 44 percent thought that they're too liberal. So it wasn't a majority. So far, that's not cutting through with the majority of voters.

PAWLENTY: Yeah, and I think the Trump campaign will have to do a better job highlighting things like their position on open borders, their role in causing inflation, the crime situation, what many people perceive as wokeness run amok and more. But the Trump campaign is going to have to do a better job at convincing those swing voters that those issues, those policy issues are enough to repel them away from Harris and Walz and give Trump a second look, a second consideration.

DEAN: And so many people I'm talking to, people like you, also consultants, also analysts, people who have been elected to office who are Republicans are saying they want this to be about the issues, just like what you're saying, that Trump and his campaign need to keep bringing this back to the issues and keep talking to voters about issues that matter to them.

And yet this week, we really saw the former president, even in his back and forth, this question and answer with the press and then later at his rally, going off about personal attacks. There was really very little policy, if any, in a lot of what he was saying this week.

[17:09:56]

PAWLENTY: Jessica, that's a great point. And I thought I was disappointed that President Trump didn't take advantage after the shooting of that convention speech to give a true and authentic and sincere speech that would thematically go something like this. I learned some things. The country needs healing. I'm still going to be Trump. I'm still going to fight like a dog. I'm still going to say bold things, but I'm going to be better as a candidate and as a leader and show some more civility and some more focus, even within his own campaign.

And I think also when he made the VP pick, he could have picked somebody like Nikki Haley as a way to perhaps reach out to those swing voters, soft Republicans, independent voters, but they doubled down. Both sides have doubled down on the left. They've doubled down on the progressive perspective with that ticket. And President Trump doubled down on his ticket.

So now you're going to have a real base turnout kind of race where each side is going to try to max the turnout on their base and try to convince the other side that is evil and that they should -- the swing voters should come the other way because the other side is so bad.

DEAN: And Senator Vance did a whole round of media interviews talking to a lot of press over the weekend. He talked to our Dana Bash earlier today. I want to play a clip of what he said about his attacks on Vice President Harris. Let's listen to that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: You called out Kamala Harris and Pete Buttigieg in particular. Kamala Harris has two stepchildren. Pete Buttigieg and his husband have adopted twins. Do you recognize them as parents and more broadly as being part of families?

VANCE: Well, of course I do, Dana. I never, Dana, criticize people for not having kids. I criticize people for being anti-child.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Do you think, Governor, that is an effective pushback, an effective attack on the Democratic ticket? Would you rephrase it, reframe it in a different way?

PAWLENTY: Well, as you know, when you're explaining, you're losing in politics. So when you have to talk about how, you know, your comments weren't anti-child or anti-parent, you know, it's a losing argument. So as soon as they can get off those topics and get on the offensive on some of the other ones I mentioned earlier in this interview, they'd be well served. But he's dug himself a big hole. That's not an effective way of digging out of it. But, you know, he never should have said that in the first place.

DEAN: All right, Governor Tim Pawlenty, we really do appreciate your time. Thanks so much.

PAWLENTY: You're welcome.

DEAN: We have more news ahead. And for that, let's go now to Wolf Blitzer, who's in Tel Aviv. Wolf?

BLITZER: Jessica, thank you very much. Excellent interview, by the way. There are major developments right now here in Tel Aviv. And we'll discuss that and report on that. That's coming up, with ceasefire talks aimed at stopping the war in Gaza, set to resume this coming week. On Thursday, it appears Hamas, yes, Hamas may be holding out. Why? And could a ceasefire hostage deal still happen without Hamas at the table?

Plus, the Israeli military with a new message to its citizens. IDF troops are deployed and ready should Iran and or Hezbollah strike the Jewish state. We have new information and we will share it with you when we come back. Our team of reporters and experts are ready to explain what's at stake right now. There's a lot at stake. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Tel Aviv and you're in the "CNN Newsroom."

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[17:15:00]

BLITZER: Tonight, new developments in the upcoming Gaza and ceasefire hostage negotiations. Hamas officials are now casting doubt on whether they will even attend the meeting scheduled for this Thursday. The group citing the recent Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, among its reasons for possibly pulling out.

Once again, the talks are scheduled for Thursday. The change comes with Israel bracing for a retaliatory attack from Iran and or Hezbollah after the killing of a Hamas leader in Tehran. CNN's international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson is here with me in Tel Aviv and journalist Elliott Gotkine is joining us from London. Elliott was previously based for a few years here in Tel Aviv. Nic, this is a major blow potentially to the hopes for a ceasefire and a deal to release the hostages.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: It really calls into question whether or not the talks that were expected to happen on Thursday can really go ahead. How can they happen in a meaningful way without Hamas being present? It feels a bit like a pre-negotiation negotiation jockeying for position, because in their statement, they list the reasons why they wouldn't attend.

The recent strike in Gaza on the school that killed 90 people, according to officials inside of Gaza. The IDF say that they were going after Hamas senior figures there. They call into question things that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, they say, has tried to add on and embellish the deal for the benefit of Israel, the one that President Biden has spoken about in late July.

So it feels like they're sort of pre-negotiating, particularly when just hours before Hamas has said they're willing to go for this deal. Of course, this whole situation is much bigger than the previous ceasefire hostage talks that we've had. Why? Quite simply because Iran's retaliatory strike, Hezbollah's retaliatory strike, also appear to depend on a positive outcome at these talks on Thursday.

And now the question, will they even wait? Now, when you have this language from Hamas, questioning whether they'll attend, will Iran wait for those talks? Will Hezbollah wait for those talks? Will they have their retaliatory strike sooner?

[17:20:05]

BLITZER: Because there's a lot of concern here in Israel that those retaliatory strikes from Hezbollah and Iran could start within the next few days. We'll see what happens, a very dangerous situation. Elliott, how do you think Netanyahu is going to play these talks and could this be a tactical move by Hamas to help improve their position at the negotiating table when these talks formally resume on Thursday?

ELLIOTT GOTKINE, JOURNALIST: Wolf, as far as Hamas is concerned, it's important to note that in contrast to previous talks, this is the first ones where Yahya Sinwar, the head of Hamas in Gaza, the architect of the October the 7th terrorist attacks, is now also the head of Hamas's political bureau. So he may be looking to lay down a marker in terms of his negotiating tactics.

Let's not forget that he's seen to be much closer to Iran and much more of a hardliner than others in the organization that may have replaced Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated on the 31st of July in a guest house in Tehran. As far as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is concerned, I think it's worth remembering that even in the wake of President Biden's grand announcement that this framework agreement between Israel and Hamas, you know, was going to be agreed upon, you know, and everyone thought that a deal was going to happen.

Imminently, Prime Minister Netanyahu did actually come out and say he accepted what President Biden had said. But at the same time, he, at least from his perspective, his view was that what President Biden was saying didn't preclude Israel from doing the things that it said it wanted to do and that Hamas said it didn't want to allow to happen, namely for Israel to have the option, if you like, to go back to war after this six-week temporary ceasefire.

But certainly, Prime Minister Netanyahu, when he goes into these negotiations or his negotiators are there, even if whether they do or don't have someone to negotiate with via the mediators, he will want to be able to insist that he is sticking to his war objectives and not giving up on them, namely to destroy Hamas's military and governance capabilities to get all of the hostages home, 115 or so still in Gaza, about a third of whom are believed to be dead and to prevent the Gaza Strip from posing a threat to Israel in future.

And if he can stick to those, then he will feel that he can sell it to the Israeli people, even if he can't to the most right-wing members of his coalition, Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, and Nic, you know, there's also new reporting. We're getting a possible Iranian retaliatory strike against Israel where you and I are right now.

ROBERTSON: Yeah, there's an intelligent assessment. We don't know what all the details they're bringing into that assessment, but an intelligence assessment in Israel that says Iran could strike as early as tomorrow, and that would have a symbolic value for the Iranians, because this is a major and important day in Israel commemorating some of the saddest events in Israeli history, the destruction of the of the two principal temples.

So this is a day that might be auspicious for Iran in their mind to strike. And why can we analyze, perhaps, the ground behind this assessment? Iran has said, and this is contrary now to what they were saying last week, they seem to accept this principle that if there could be movement on Gaza, then they could hold off their retaliation. They're now saying that their retaliation and Gaza are two separate issues.

So add to that the possibility that Hamas is signaling that these talks are going to be just like every other set of talks. So the Iranian leadership is going to sit there and say, well, what are we waiting for, because nothing is actually changing. And the premise of all of this, getting Iran to hold still, was that something was changing in these talks, that there would be a new position from the Israeli side.

BLITZER: And as you point out, Tuesday is the Jewish holy day of Tisha B'Av, which marks the destruction of the holy temple in Jerusalem a few thousand years ago, a very sad day of fasting and prayer for the Jewish people. All right. Thank you very much. We'll see how that unfolds. Nic Robertson, Elliott Gotkine, to both of you, thanks very, very much.

Right now, I want to turn to the former U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen. Secretary Cohen, thanks so much for joining us. I want to get your reaction now, your take, your assessment on where these potential ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas appear to stand right now. What do you think?

WILLIAM COHEN, FORMER U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: Well, it's getting very frustrating for, I think, the world community to look at what's taking place. Who keeps moving the goalposts? Is it the Israelis? Is it the Hamas and the Palestinians? And so I think what we have to do is say to the Israelis, this is a chance you need to take and that is to say, I'll show up or I'll send my negotiators to show up on Thursday and put the burden on the Iranians and Hamas and Hezbollah to say, no, we're not interested because this really, we're at a crossroads right now.

[17:24:58]

And I think of a young student in high school and in grade school at a crossing, we used to say, stop, look and listen. What we have to do is stop the killing. We have to look at ways in which we can provide for a peaceful approach to getting the hostages back in a path forward for the Palestinians to have a state. And if we don't do that, it's a lesson lost on our part and a kind of march to folly, a new chapter in the march to folly.

BLITZER: We're learning today, Secretary Cohen, by way of Egyptian and Qatari mediators that the leader of Hamas says he wants to reach a deal. Does the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in your opinion, want a deal? What's your view?

COHEN: I don't know. I've known the prime minister for many, many years. I don't know what his position right now. I will say this, Wolf. The United States has indicated that we are fully supportive of the state of Israel and its right to exist as a Jewish state free of terrorism and free of any kind of assault upon their territory. We have also demonstrated that we are willing to send our men and women in uniform to fight on foreign soil to protect our allies who are fighting for freedom.

What we are not, I think, eager to do is have our men and women come under attack when there is an opportunity for a peaceful resolution or a path to peace and our allies fail to take that, putting our lives on the line, our men and women in uniform on the line when there was a path to peace.

So I'm hoping that the Israelis understand that we are with them, but we are not going to be with them to the extent when they have an element in their government who says we don't want any peace. We don't want any deal, but we're willing to risk a regional war, which by the way, is not regional. It will be global in its consequences.

It will affect the lives of every person on this planet in terms of inflationary pressures, joblessness and despair. So nothing is regional. It's global in impact. So I want to make sure that the Israelis and the Palestinians understand there's an opportunity here for pursuing peace. Let's not take the path down to more war, more tit for tat, and finally the escalation of warfare to the point that we're entering Dante's inferno of hell.

BLITZER: You're a former defense secretary. As you know, the U.S. has been moving battleships, aircraft carrier, battle groups into the eastern Mediterranean, not far from where we are here in Tel Aviv. What's behind these moves? What's your assessment? Is this a good idea for the U.S. to be doing so?

COHEN: I think we have to. I think if the Iranians now are planning a major attack or asking the Hezbollah in Lebanon to plan a major attack, it could overwhelm the Israelis' defense capabilities. So we are there as a deterrent. We're there to tell the Iranians don't do this. Hezbollah, don't do this. Because you are now calling upon -- you will be having the United States respond. And we will respond in a way you may not anticipate. And the risk to us is that not every power is going to sit on the sidelines.

So if Iran were to come under attack from us or the Israelis, you don't know whether the Russians are going to sit on the sidelines and wait it out to see how it happens. You don't know whether China will have an interest in trying to pursue peace there and take some other measures. You don't know whether the Iranian terrorist network around the world will take action against Americans here at home or abroad.

So this is very serious. And that's why I say there are lessons to be learned from history, from those who have pursued folly, instead of sitting back and looking at how do we calculate the opportunity for peace versus pursuing a hateful dialogue, I'm sorry, a hateful ideologue coming from the Hamas and the Hezbollah.

You can't kill an ideology with bullets or bombs. You can restrain it or contain it for a while. You can't kill Nazism. You can kill Nazis, but not Nazism. You can kill Hamas leaders, but there's always going to be somebody coming up behind them. So we have to look at the long term and say, how do we pursue an opportunity for the Palestinians to have a state that lives in peace with the state of Israel? That's the goal.

I think that President Biden, who laid it down as an opportunity, I think the Israelis have to look at it and say, we're willing to pursue this. We're going to have to have a partner in this. We're not going to deal with a Hamas who dedicated to our destruction. But we're willing to sit down, get our hostages back and stop the killing in terms of the tit for tat, missile launches against innocent civilians, as well as the Hamas leadership.

[17:29:58]

And then maybe there's a chance for peace. Without it, we're facing a catastrophe in the making.

BLITZER: Yeah, it's a very, very dangerous, very scary situation here in the Middle East right now, as you correctly point out. The former secretary of defense, William Cohen, thanks so much for joining us.

COHEN: Hey, Wolf, you're one of our Olympians, and we want you to be safe. You're a gold champ, in our opinion, and one of our leaders internationally. So be safe.

BLITZER: I will be safe over here. Thanks so much, Mr. Secretary. Always good to have you join us here on CNN. And Jessica, back to you.

DEAN: The secretary is right there, Wolf. You are our Olympic champion. Thank you so much. I appreciate it.

Up next for us, a day after the Trump campaign says it was hacked, possibly by Iran. We're going to look at what efforts are being done to keep this election safe and secure. And I'm going to be joined by Andrew McCabe, former deputy director of the FBI, and now a CNN senior law enforcement analyst when we come back. You're in the "CNN Newsroom."

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[17:35:00]

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DEAN: The Trump campaign is blaming foreign sources for a hack of its internal documents. Politico is reporting it got emails from an anonymous account, including a dossier on J.D. Vance. A spokesperson for the National Security Council said the Biden administration -- quote -- "strongly condemns any foreign government or entity who attempts to interfere in our electoral process."

CNN senior law enforcement analyst and former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe is joining us now. Andrew, nice to see you. How significant is this?

ANDREW MCCABE, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST, FORMER FBI DEPUTY DIRECTOR: I think it's incredibly significant. You know, it's not new. I mean, this is something we have seen in the last series of presidential election cycles. Infamously, in 2016, we were focused on Russian misinformation and Russian cyber activity. That was a clear effort to undermine and influence the election.

But in 2020, we saw it again. This time, we saw the Iranians enter this space, and that appears to be what we're seeing again now. You have an Iranian group affiliated with the IRGC, the military intelligence part of the Iranian government, actively trying to steal, apparently, information from former President Trump's campaign.

DEAN: And the Trump campaign is citing this report published by Microsoft that said Iranian operatives had ramped up their attempts to influence and monitor the presidential election. The Iranian mission to the U.N. has responded, saying the Iranian government neither possesses or harbors any intent or motive to interfere in the United States presidential election. Do you believe that?

MCCABE: Of course not. That's exactly what any intelligence service would say when they were kind of caught with their hand in the cookie jar, which appears to be the case here. Now, we can't say for sure that what the Microsoft Threat Analysis Center report, which is how we know about the Iranian activity, we can't say for absolutely sure that that's what the Trump campaign folks are describing.

But the facts seem to line up. There hasn't been a confirmation there. It appears that it is the Iranian group that has attempted to hack into the Trump campaign. So far, all we've seen are a few documents that, quite frankly, don't seem to be that big of a deal. But the question, of course, is how much did they take and is this going to be an extended campaign of periodic releases designed to have a bigger impact over time.

DEAN: Right, like a drip, drip, drip of sorts. And more broadly, too, I wonder about your thoughts that they're taking essentially a page out of the Russian playbook if it is, in fact, Iran.

MCCABE: They absolutely are, Jessica. This is what intelligence agencies do, right? They follow the lead of the bigger, better funded, better trained agencies that, you know, execute in new directions. Once you see that happen successfully, as it certainly was for the Russians in 2016, you can expect smaller services to follow suit in the years to come.

That seems to be what has happened here with the Iranians. As I said, they tried it in 2020 along very similar lines, and they seem to be following the same playlist today.

DEAN: Yeah, and it's very good context for us. Thank you so much, Andrew McCabe. We appreciate it.

MCCABE: Thanks.

DEAN: We have much more news still ahead. CNN's Wolf Blitzer is in Tel Aviv and will be joined by Congressman Jared Moskowitz of Florida. That's coming up next.

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[17:40:00]

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BLITZER: Welcome back to the "CNN Newsroom." I'm Wolf Blitzer in Tel Aviv. Iran has decided to attack Israel directly and may do so within the next few days. That, according to CNN analyst and Axios reporter Barak Ravid, citing two sources. Adding to that reporting, Hamas is casting doubt over whether it will participate in ceasefire talks scheduled for this week, upcoming on Thursday. Taken together, both developments certainly represent a major setback to truce talks that have not made any major headway for months now.

Congressman Jared Moskowitz is joining us now from his district that includes parts of Fort Lauderdale in Florida. Congressman, thanks so much for joining us. Can I first get your reaction to that reporting you just heard?

REP. JARED MOSKOWITZ (D-FL): Well, on the Hamas front about, you know, them deciding whether or not they're going to agree to ceasefire talks, I mean, we've known for months now the reason we don't have an agreement on a ceasefire is because of Sinwar, the head of Hamas in Gaza. He is refusing to agree to a ceasefire. He continues to move the goalposts on what he will accept for a ceasefire deal.

And so that doesn't surprise me that they're continuing to hold out and not release the hostages in exchange for a ceasefire. He wants Hamas to stay in control of Gaza. That is never going to happen.

On the Iran front, obviously, it's disturbing news.

[17:44:55]

I know the Biden administration, along with all our allies in the region, you know, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, everyone working, Egypt, trying to make sure that this does not become a regional war. But obviously, with Iran making that decision, it's becoming more and more concerning. I also don't necessarily believe, you know, the latest threat. I think Hezbollah will also join in and we will see both Hezbollah and Iran both going after Israel.

Hopefully, this can be contained, Wolf, because, obviously, the Israelis have made it clear should they go after civilian targets, Israel's response will not be proportionate. So, it's a very concerning time right now.

BLITZER: So, if this conflict were to expand, and we heard President Biden express that fear earlier today in the CBS News interview, how might America's role change potentially if, in fact, this conflict escalates into some sort of full-scale regional war? A lot of people are worried about that.

MOSKOWITZ: Yeah, well, look, obviously, you know, we have the Russians and the Chinese in the background. Don't forget about them. Obviously, they're still very mad about what's going on in Ukraine. Maybe they're helping us behind the scenes. Maybe they're not. It's very unclear at the moment.

But obviously, this would become a major headache for the United States. It would become a terrible thing for the entire region. Obviously, all options should be on the table. That's what the president should be communicating. But it's his decision. It's the Biden-Harris administration's decision to figure out what we want to do.

But you could be sure that President Biden, Vice President Harris is going to make sure that Israel's security is protected and that Iran is not going to get a win here. In fact, that's why they built this coalition the first time Iran tried to do this. And as I said previously, Wolf, it's interesting, right? Israel had specific strategic targets, people who were responsible for October 7th. They went and they killed those specific murderers. And now, Iran wants to come with a completely disproportionate attack on the entire country.

And so that is the escalation. That is the real concern. How the Israelis respond to that? Well, look, this will be the second time Iran does a major attack on the country. That just cannot continue to go on for free without Israel deciding that it's a time to eliminate the nuclear capability of the Iranian regime, which is what I think the Israelis are probably thinking about.

BLITZER: Yeah, this could really escalate big time. And there's enormous concern. I can tell you, congressman, here in Tel Aviv, Israelis are very, very concerned that they're going to be hearing sirens pretty soon and telling everyone to go to bomb shelters and stay safe. We're watching and we're waiting to see what happens. Congressman Jared Moskowitz of Florida, thanks so much for joining us.

MOSKOWITZ: Thanks, Wolf.

BLITZER: And Jessica, back to you.

DEAN: Wolf, thank you. And still ahead, gymnast Jordan Chiles ordered to give back her bronze medal. What the U.S. is now doing to appeal that decision here on the "CNN Newsroom."

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DEAN: Developing now, U.S. gymnast Jordan Chiles now ordered to return her bronze medal for the gymnastics floor exercise by the International Olympic Committee. That medal instead going to go to Romania competitor Ana Barbosu. And it comes after a court of arbitration for sport ruling Saturday, which said the initial inquiry made by the U.S. over Chiles's score was filed four seconds too late after the one-minute deadline.

CNN sports analyst and USA Today sports columnist Christine Brennan joining us now live from Paris. Christine, there's so many questions about this. Is the U.S. -- the U.S. Olympic Committee is appealing, but who are they appealing to? Do they have a strong case? Have you ever seen anything like this?

CHRISTINE BRENNAN, CNN SPORTS ANALYST, SPORTS COLUMNIST FOR USA TODAY: Yeah, Jessica, actually, they do have a strong case. They are appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. That is the same group that just issued that ruling yesterday. This is very similar for anyone following the Kamila Valieva figure skating drama over the last two and a half years.

We're kept going back to cast the Court of Arbitration for Sport, the Supreme Court, for sports in the world. That's what's going to happen here. The United States, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee is going to throw its full weight and might and money at this.

And they also have some new evidence, Jessica, that USA Gymnastics has announced in the last couple of hours, that they have video timestamped evidence of the coach putting the appeal in at 47 seconds, not at 64 seconds.

So, it's a lot of minutiae here, but what that means is that's within the one minute, 47 seconds, 13 seconds before the minute deadline, and if that evidence is what the U.S. says it is, and I certainly believe it would be, then that would prove that the U.S. did file the appeal, which then I've asked two sources with the Court of Arbitration for Sport, what on earth were they looking at if they, in fact, had the appeal filed before the minute deadline that apparently the U.S. had failed to meet when the U.S. now has evidence that they did meet that deadline?

DEAN: Yeah, absolutely. And I think so many people, of course, cheering her on and hoping this all gets resolved. She gets to keep that medal. On a happier note, the final medal of the game is going to Team USA in women's basketball, and it was a great game.

BRENNAN: It was. It was a little too close for comfort for the United States, only a win point, one-point win over France. You know, France playing at home. Those French crowds have been amazing. Anyone watching the swimming and Leon Marchand, you know, you just know that the French get that extra boost when they're on the court or in the pool because of the French crowds that have been so boisterous and lovely and delightful.

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And yeah, the U.S. did not play well. The U.S. did not look good. But they hung on and they won a veteran-laden U.S. team. And that is the eighth consecutive gold medal for the United States. They last lost, Jessica, in 1992 in Barcelona. That's how much they have been winning. This is the most dominant team, men's, women's, any sport on the planet. They are that good.

And unfortunately, they don't get all the attention, say, of the women's soccer team or the men's basketball team, I think, in large part because they're almost too good for their own good, which sounds ridiculous. But in an Olympics where there's so many other things to cover, often, journalists have to make a choice or editors have to make a choice, and this team does not get as much attention as it should.

But certainly, we now know they won that gold and it was great that the women ended the Olympics. Usually the men end the Olympics. But Paris switched it all up and allowed the women to have center stage at the very end, and the U.S. women delivered with another gold medal.

DEAN: Well, we celebrate them today. Christine Brennan, thank you so much.

BRENNAN: Thank you, Jessica.

DEAN: Uh-hmm. And we'll be right back.

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