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Poll of Polls: Harris and Trump Remain Neck-and-Neck; Harris Gaining Momentum in Swing State of North Carolina; Ukraine Launches Biggest Attack Yet on Russian Airfields; Taliban Mark Three Years in Power. Aired 4:30-5a ET
Aired August 15, 2024 - 04:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:30:00]
CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. Here are some of the top stories we're following today. U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will travel to Maryland in the coming hours. They will be giving a speech on lowering costs for American families. This will be their first joint trip since Biden dropped out of the presidential race and comes on day before Harris delivers her first major economic policy speech as the Democratic nominee.
The Mpox outbreak in Africa is now officially a global health emergency, says the World Health Organization. Until recently, Mpox had been contained to the Democratic Republic of Congo, but now a more deadly strain of the virus, HSA, spread to a previously unaffected countries. Mpox has infected more than 17,000 people in Africa this year.
And New York Yankee Aaron Judge hit his 300th career home run on Wednesday. He reached a milestone faster than any other player in history, including Babe Ruth. Judge was playing in his 955th game against the Chicago White Sox. His Yankees clobbered the Sox 10 to 2.
Now, CNN's latest Poll of Polls still finds no clear leader in the U.S. presidential race, but a new Quinnipiac University poll puts Kamala Harris a few points ahead of Donald Trump in the key battleground state of Pennsylvania. And Democrats hope she can also pull ahead in the swing state of North Carolina.
CNN's Jeff Zeleny is there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's great to be back at this beautiful state.
JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF U.S. NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Donald Trump's back in North Carolina, a sure sign it's a battleground once again.
CROWD: USA, USA, USA!
ZELENY (voice-over): Lines of Trump admirers stretched down the block in downtown Asheville, a deeply enclave in a deep red swath of the state.
GABRIELLA CRUZ, REPUBLICAN VOTER: I miss.
ZELENY: You miss him?
CRUZ: I've miss him, yes, the past four years? Yes.
ZELENY (voice-over): Democrats worried North Carolina was slipping out of reach. But all that's changed with Kamala Harris at the top of the ticket
ZELENY: It's now a campaign.
DAVID BAILEY, VOLUNTEER, BUNCOMBE COUNTY DEMOCRATIC PARTY HEADQUARTERS: Yes, people are excited.
ZELENY (voice-over): David Bailey has been making calls at Democratic headquarters.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Democrats up and down the ballot.
ZELENY (voice-over): Where old signs are now accompanied by new enthusiasm.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm a volunteer with the Democratic Party here in Asheville.
BAILEY: You have to tap into peoples not only what they know is good for the country, but also what they feel is good for the country. And I think Harris and Walz have done that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think our volunteer inquiries quadrupled almost overnight as soon as we got news that Kamala Harris was going to be on a ticket.
ZELENY: They quadrupled?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, yes.
ZELENY (voice-over): Harris has injected a wave of new energy and uncertainty to the presidential race, putting North Carolina and other states back in play.
GENA SINGLETON, CHAIR, BURKE COUNTY DEMOCRATIC PARTY: Folks were feeling so downtrodden and didn't feel like we could win again. And all of a sudden, it was when -- we were on the upswing and they wanted to be a part of it.
ZELENY (voice-over): Four years ago, North Carolina recorded the tightest margin of victory for Trump. He carried the state by 1.3 points or 74,000 votes out of 5.4 million cast.
GRAYSON BARNETTE, NORTH CAROLINA DELEGATE AT LARGE: They're tired of him. They really want somebody else. And that Democrats are offering that this year. They're offering somebody new. They're offering somebody that has a lot of energy around them. I think people are noticing and they're willing to give Kamala Harris a chance.
ZELENY (voice-over): Grayson Barnette grew up in a family of Republicans. He supports Democrats and believes western North Carolina can help deliver for Harris by avoiding a blowout on his home turf.
BARNETTE: I'm not sure anybody is saying that we're going to get 40 or 50 percent in these counties overnight. But going from 25 to 35 or 20, or 30 to 40 really can make a huge difference.
ZELENY (voice-over): Down the road at Burke County Republican headquarters --
ELISE NEGRIN, REPUBLICAN VOTER: All the Republicans who won their primary.
ZELENY (voice-over): -- Elise Negrin has a different take on the new Democratic ticket.
NEGRIN: She didn't run. She didn't have a primary. She has no platform and she can't put two sentences together. So how do you want that person as your president?
ZELENY (voice-over): But since Harris became the nominee, the Trump campaign and a leading super PAC are investing more than $11 million here trying to define her, after spending nearly nothing all year.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kamala Harris, failed, weak, dangerously liberal.
ZELENY (voice-over): Three months until the election. Trump supporters like Cheryl Price are picking up signs to show their support.
CHERYL PRICE, REPUBLICAN VOTER So I have a spot for it already.
ZELENY: Do you have one last time or is this your first Trump flag?
PRICE: This is my first one. I was sort of not scared, but I didn't want to make any conflict because once you put a sign or anything out, oh.
ZELENY: For Price, not only a first Trump flag, but her first Trump campaign event. We bumped into her waiting in line to see the former president.
PRICE: It will be exciting. I just hope I get in.
ZELENY: North Carolina and its 16 electoral votes suddenly are at the center of this presidential race in ways that they have not been all year long. Of course, so much is said about those blue wall states of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. Actually, there are more electoral votes here in North Carolina than Wisconsin or Michigan.
It's seen as an insurance policy for Democrats, should the Harris campaign need one. Now, this new excitement certainly does not guarantee victory, not by a long shot. But as one Democratic official here told me, it offers us a pathway.
Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Asheville, North Carolina.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[04:35:00]
MACFARLANE: Well, Kamala Harris' running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, says he had agreed to take part in a vice presidential debate on October 1st. CBS News took to social media Wednesday to post its invitation to both Walz and Republican vice president nominee J.D. Vance, offering four different dates over the next two months.
Walz responded, writing: See you on October 1st, J.D.
An official with Harris' campaign says the Minnesota governor looks forward to debating his opponent, quote, if he shows up. Here's what Vance told Fox News about the debate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH), U.S. REPUBLICAN VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I strongly suspect we're going to be there on October 1st, but we're not going to do one of these fake debates, Laura, where they don't actually have an audience there, where they don't actually set the parameters in a right way, where you can have a good exchange of ideas. In other words, we're not going to run and walk into a fake news media garbage debate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: Now Ukraine is targeting the source of Russia's air power with what a security source is calling the biggest attack on Russian airfields since the war began.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(BOMBS EXPLODING)
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MACFARLANE: This video posted on social media shows what looks like a drone crashing down on an airbase in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, east of Moscow. A Ukrainian security source tells CNN that they struck four key Russian airfields in several regions, including Kursk, where the Ukrainian forces are currently gaining more ground.
Clare Sebastian's been tracking this. Join me now. And, Clare, a day after Putin threatened a, quote, worthy response to this surprise incursion, this is yet another blow for the military.
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we still haven't seen that worthy response. And look, it's clear that Ukraine is trying everything to really stop Russia being able to attack effectively. On the ground, you see that those attacks sort of on the border region inside Russia are stopping the kind of shelling that we've seen over and over again over into the Sumy region of Ukraine. Local residents have told CNN that there's been a downtick in those. But if you hit the airfields further away, you can prevent the kind of sort of glide-bomb attacks that we've been seeing increasing in frequency in recent months, the kind that devastated Avdiivka back in the winter. So that is the strategy here.
We don't know how effective these attacks were yet, how many planes were actually destroyed. But, certainly, this is something that President Zelenskyy is using, not only to sort of add to the morale boost of the incursion into Kursk, but to call for more weapons and less limitations, crucially, from his Western allies. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Thank you for the accurate, timely, and effective strikes on Russian airfields. Our Ukrainian drones are working exactly as needed. But there are things that drones alone cannot do. Unfortunately, we need other weapons, missile weapons. And we continue to work with our partners on long-range solutions for Ukraine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SEBASTIAN: So, yes, he's banging the drum on this. He has been even before they started with the incursion into Kursk. But I think that perhaps there's also a message to the West here that Ukraine can invade, literally invade Russia.
We still don't see anything that looks really different from the normal course of hostilities from Russia and Ukraine in terms of escalation. So perhaps he's trying to make the point to the Western allies that they have nothing to lose, really, in lifting restrictions.
MACFARLANE: And there have been a slight, I think, thought that there'd be a sensitivity about this on the West part, because Ukraine are using NATO machinery, ammunitions. What has the response been from Western allies? I know that President Biden has actually been speaking on this this week.
SEBASTIAN: Yes, it's interesting, because initially what we heard, certainly from the White House, was that they hadn't had a heads up. And quite often they do get a heads up, certainly about major operations from Ukraine. But since then, what we've seen to be getting is a level of acceptance, right, from the Western allies.
President Biden this week saying that, you know, this created a real dilemma for Putin. He also said he's being briefed about this every four to five hours. So clearly he's really staying in touch with what's happening on the ground. In the EU, the EU's top diplomat, you know, offering support for this.
So there's been no sort of backlash from Ukraine's Western allies. The U.S. even announced a new weapons package last week. So I think that is quite telling in itself, even though, as we understand it, they didn't know in advance. MACFARLANE: Interesting. Clare, thanks very much.
Now, a Russian court has sentenced an American man to 15 days in prison for petty hooliganism, according to a post on the court's Telegram channel. Joseph Tater was found guilty of disorderly conduct during his stay at a Moscow hotel. State media reports that he behaved aggressively, used foul language, and hit a female police officer while on detention. Russian media also reporting that he's facing a criminal charge of violence against a government official that could get him up to five years behind bars.
Now, Japan is marking an economic achievement. The country's gross domestic product grew by more than 3 percent in the second quarter, according to government officials.
[04:10:00]
It's the first time in two quarters that Japan has seen positive growth. Public investment is 4.5 percent higher, up from 1 percent decline in the first quarter.
Tourists are capitalizing on the unpredictable nature of the Japanese yen right now. Japan's National Tourism Organization says that more than three million people visit the country in June, and it's on pace to break its annual tourism record. One of the big draws for visitors to Japan is getting luxury goods at a bargain price, as CNN's Hanako Montgomery reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With a wad of cash or the swipe of a credit card, tourists from China, the U.S., Thailand, Australia are buying up Japan's high-end items at an unprecedented rate, defying global trends of a luxury slowdown. The reason for this shopping spree? The weak yen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I had to come and help their economy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The reason why we come to Japan for traveling.
MONTGOMERY: I see, OK.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's more cheaper than before, yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 100% makes a huge difference, yeah.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's one of the main reasons we're here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was here a couple of years ago, and it was like a completely different experience. The amount of money I'm willing to spend, huge difference.
MONTGOMERY (voice-over): As the yen hits historic lows this year, foreign tourists are snapping up luxury goods for less than back home, and buying tax free doesn't hurt. MONTGOMERY: The luxury market is booming in Japan as it sees record foreign tourist numbers and spending, with estimates surpassing U.S. $54 billion this year alone.
MONTGOMERY (voice-over): But elsewhere, big brands are feeling the pinch. LVMH, the world's largest luxury group and giant behind Louis Vuitton, saw a 14 percent revenue dip in Asia, excluding Japan, during the second quarter of this year compared to 2023. Brands like Ferragamo and Kering also took a hard hit.
But Japan's bucking the trend, even riding a wave of celebrity-driven demand for vintage luxury.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Yes, Japanese vintage is very popular. From a global perspective, Japan excels accurately at praising items and distinguishing between authentic and imitation designer pieces.
MONTGOMERY (voice-over): Japan's vintage scene, already a top destination for high-quality finds, is also getting a boost from the weak yen. Asia's secondhand luxury market is set to reach 4.38 billion U.S. dollars this year, 165 percent bigger than the U.S., with Japan leading the way. But with higher Japanese interest rates looming and a fluctuating currency, experts warn this travel trend may not last.
NOBUKO KOBAYASHI, ASIA-PACIFIC STRATEGY EXECUTION LEADER, EY: So the price harmonization across the region will eventually take place. So far it's been so volatile, it's not been caught up. But these two factors will kick in and the arbitrage opportunity will be lessened.
MONTGOMERY (voice-over): For now, tourists are cashing in on this luxury paradise while their wallets can hold up demand.
Hanako Montgomery, CNN, Tokyo.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MACFARLANE: And North Korea is reopening to international tourists. That's according to two Chinese tour companies, which say limited tourism will resume by December. That's after a pause of nearly five years.
North Korean borders have been largely sealed since the start of the COVID pandemic and only small tour groups from Russia have been allowed in. The possible future destinations include the purported birthplace of North Korea's late leader, Kim Jong-il, whose son, Kim Jong-un, now runs the country.
And as the Taliban celebrate three years in power, their hardline rule has led to what many international groups say is one of the most severe human right crisis in Afghanistan. A live report on this when we come back.
[04:15:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) MACFARLANE: The Taliban are celebrating the three-year anniversary of their return to power in Afghanistan, holding a military parade at the former U.S. airbase in Bagram, which was once the center of coalition operations.
This was the scene three years ago after the militant group retook Afghanistan's capital almost two decades after they were driven from Kabul by U.S. troops. In the years since, the Taliban have reimposed strict Islamic law and stifled the rights of women.
CNN's Anna Coren joins me now. And Anna, I know you have been reporting on the demise of women's rights in Afghanistan for years now. Just talk us through just how devastating the picture is for those in the country under the Taliban's draconian rule the last three years.
ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Christina, you know, for the girls and women of Afghanistan, there just really is no future. And they look at these scenes of Bagram airbase, which, as you say, it was the nerve center of the U.S. war on terror. And this is where the Taliban's marking its third anniversary of its return to power.
For these women, it is incredibly demoralizing. You know, we heard from senior Taliban officials there yesterday. They marked the anniversary yesterday, praising their achievements.
There was not a woman in sight. No women were allowed to attend. We saw, you know, U.S. and NATO weaponry that was seized and left behind after the U.S. led international forces withdrew back in August of 2021.
And, you know, this military parade, Christina, it was televised. So the people in Afghanistan are seeing this and wondering what has happened to their country.
What wasn't addressed at this military parade is the economic humanitarian crisis that is unfolding in this country. And, you know, the U.N., they report that something like half the population, that's almost 24 million people need humanitarian aid to survive. This year, we know that donor countries have provided only a fraction of the funds required.
And this war on women, it continues every single day. Human Rights Watch, you know, describes Afghanistan as the most serious women's rights crisis in the world. And we say this over and over again, and yet kind of goes through one ear and out the other. You know, girls are banned from school beyond the sixth grade, the only country in the world where this happens.
Women, they're not allowed to travel alone. They're not allowed to work. And the laws and institutions that were put in place to protect them have been dismantled. They are basically prisoners in their own homes.
And I think a really important way to illustrate this. There's a U.N. study that found two thirds of Afghan women experienced severe mental health issues. And, you know, we have reported extensively on this of attempted suicides are becoming all too common.
But let's now have a listen to what the U.N. women representative in Kabul had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALISON DAVIDIAN, SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE, U.N. WOMEN AFGHANISTAN: Three years ago, the world was watching a takeover that was live streaming horror after horror.
[04:20:03]
And three years later, while the world's attention may have turned elsewhere, the horrors have not stopped for Afghan women and girls, but nor has their conviction to stand against oppression.
We cannot leave Afghan women to fight alone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COREN: That's right, Christina. We cannot abandon the women of Afghanistan. I got a statement from a 21-year-old who I've been in touch with since the fall of Kabul.
And she said, we will not be silenced. We will continue to fight until we can see our dreams again.
MACFARLANE: Yes, and you have to admire the courage of these women who continue this fight despite the odds. Anna Coren there, live from Hong Kong. Thanks, Anna.
All right, just ahead, scientists have traced Stonehenge's altar to its mysterious origins, and it's not where they previously thought.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MACFARLANE: Now the Olympic break is over and the rookie stars of the WNBA are returning to action. Angel Reese and the Chicago Sky take on the Phoenix Mercury tonight. And Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fevers host the Mercury on Friday.
[04:25:00]
Reese and Clark are also coming to a game console near you. NBA 2K released a sneak preview of the players' images on social media on Wednesday. Along with the teaser that more information is coming soon. Exciting.
And the other stories in the spotlight this hour. The Cuban-American singer known as the Queen of Salsa is now gracing one side of a U.S. quarter. Celia Cruz is one of five women chosen to appear on the new edition of the quarter.
She fled Cuba after Fidel Castro took over the country but continued her career in the U.S. where she went on to win three Grammys and four Latin Grammy Awards. The late singer is the first Afro-Latina to appear on U.S. currency.
Our Stonehenge in England is one of the world's most mystifying prehistoric monuments. Now, new analysts show that one of its stones came from much further away than previously known. The altar stone, which lies at the heart of the ancient monument, is a perfect match to the bedrock found in what's now northeastern Scotland. It was originally thought to be from present-day Wales but the discovery means that the 13,000 pound slab was transported at least 430 miles. There is no record of any other stone being transported that far during the time of that period, nearly 5,000 years ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NICK PEARCE, PROFESSOR, ABERYSTWYTH UNIVERSITY: It's very different. So it must have stood out like a sore thumb compared to everything else. And to bring it 700 kilometers, however you brought it, whether you brought it down by boat or whether you brought it over land, yes, it must have taken a huge effort to do that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: Well, the findings suggest the people of ancient Britain were far more advanced than ever thought before. Oh, we all knew it.
And staying in Scotland, some parts were treated to this spectacular view Monday night as the aurora borealis, or northern lights, lit up the night sky.
This timeline shows stunning video of the town Bridge, the Bridge of Allen. The lights came at this peak of the Perseid meteor shower during which dozens of shooting stars can be seen. The moral of the story, folks, Scotland is the place to be.
And that is it for CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Christina Macfarlane. Stay with us. CNN "THIS MORNING" is up next.
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