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Harris Details Economic Vision, Trump Calls It "Communist Price Control"; Biden States "Closer Than We've Ever Been" to Gaza Ceasefire; Ernesto Lashes Bermuda; Ukraine's Cross-border Assault into Russia; Trump Made Millions, Likely Owes Millions; New Thai Prime Minister with a Familiar Name; Colombia to Attend Invictus Games. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired August 17, 2024 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[03:00:37]
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IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello and welcome to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Ivan Watson, live in Hong Kong.
Ahead this hour, America's economy. A key issue for voters takes center stage Kamala Harris looks ahead to a big week for Democrats.
Gaza war cease-fire talks remain a top priority in the Middle East and beyond. The U.S. president says, he's optimistic about a deal.
Plus, CNN gets access to a Russian town now held by Ukraine but residents tell us about the incursion.
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WATSON: Now, with just two days left before the start of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris is focused on voters' wallets and explaining her goals for the U.S. economy. As CNN Poll of Polls indicates, the race is essentially tied, with Harris holding a slight lead over Donald Trump.
On Friday she spoke in North Carolina now in play after President Joe Biden's exit from the race. Harris took aim at Trump's efforts to outline an economic agenda and his lack of, quote, "serious plans."
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KAMALA HARRIS (D), VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Two days ago, Donald Trump was here in North Carolina.
He said he was going to talk about the economy.
(LAUGHTER)
HARRIS: I think you all watched; you know what I'm about to say.
But he offered no serious plans to reduce costs for middle-class families, no plan to expand access to housing or health care. And that, actually, I think for most of us, was not surprising.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATSON: The former president will hold an afternoon rally Saturday in Pennsylvania. A new Quinnipiac University poll gives Harris a slight edge over Trump in the battleground state. CNN's Eva McKend has more on the economic plans revealed Friday by the vice president.
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EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Vice President Kamala Harris unveiling a populist economic agenda in her first major policy speech since becoming the Democratic presidential nominee.
HARRIS: As president, I will be laser focused on creating opportunities for the middle class. Together, we will build what I call an opportunity economy.
MCKEND: Speaking Friday in battleground North Carolina, Harris outlined a series of proposals, including expanding the child tax credit to as much as $3,600, up from $2,000.
Adding a new child tax credit of up to $6,000 for families with newborns, expanding the earned income tax credit for lower income workers without children, and help lowering housing costs, including an offer of $25,000 in down payment assistance for first time homebuyers.
HARRIS: As president, I will work in partnership with the industry to build the housing we need both to rent and to buy. By the end of my first term, we will end America's housing shortage by building 3 million new homes and rentals.
MCKEND: As polls show, the vice president narrowing Donald Trump's advantage on the economy, Harris drawing a contrast with the vision put forward by her Republican rival.
HARRIS: Compare my plan with what Donald Trump intends to do. He plans to give billionaires massive tax cuts year after year. And he plans to cut corporate taxes by over a $1 trillion, even as they pull in record profits.
MCKEND: Another element of Harris' agenda, a federal ban on price gouging to lower grocery prices and other everyday costs.
HARRIS: My plan will include new penalties for opportunistic companies that exploit crises and break the rules.
MCKEND: Trump criticizing that approach during an event Thursday in New Jersey.
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: Kamala is reportedly proposing communist price controls.
The Maduro plan, like something straight out of Venezuela that you're all going to be thrown into a communist system.
[03:05:00]
MCKEND (voice-over): But Harris supporters say her plans make sense.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People may call it overstepping, but at the end of the day, the government's role is to protect its citizens. And if companies are overcharging and price gouging, then something that should be taken on.
MCKEND: CNN learning that the vice president engaged in her first debate prep session earlier this week at Howard University in Washington with advisers. That is, of course, where she attended college nearly four decades ago -- Eva McKend, CNN, Raleigh, North Carolina.
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WATSON: Now to make more sense of this, I'm going to speak now with Thomas Gift. He's the director of the Centre on U.S. Politics at University College London.
And Thomas, you join us from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, I understand, at 3:00 in the morning there. Thank you for being up at this hour.
I want to ask, first of all, what are your reactions to Harris' economic proposals?
Is this sound economic policy or does this smack of populism?
THOMAS GIFT, UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON: Well, thanks so much, for having me. Ivan, it's great to be with you and I'll always get up in the morning for CNN.
I think Harris certainly needs some plan to address the cost of living crisis. Inflation has definitely cooled in recent months but prices are still much higher than they were pre-pandemic levels.
I think the problem is that some of Harris proposals are, I think, bad politics and bad policy. And that's particularly true with her call to impose a federal ban on price gouging for food and groceries.
Politically, when your adversary calls you a communist, it's probably not the best strategy to go out and advocate explicitly for price controls. But in terms of policy, price controls, they cause shortages because they artificially constrict supply.
Jumps in the Consumer Price Index are really a function of multiple factors: supply chain issues, the war in Ukraine, economic stimulus packages. And it's clear that Harris is tied to that during her administration.
But I think she's looking for a quick fix or a remedy that's going to energize the base but, in my view, it is a pander to the electorate. I don't think it will pass Congress if she's elected. I think most voters will see through it.
WATSON: And the Republicans are attacking Harris. They're basically saying that, as Americans are struggling with a soaring cost of living, she's been part of the administration that's been governing through this period.
How do you see her and her supporters handling this line of attack?
GIFT: You're absolutely right. She has to thread a really thin needle and there's actually an advertisement by Donald Trump that shows Kamala Harris talking about the fact that prices have jumped so significantly during her administration.
So she is inevitably tied to that. She also cast the tie-breaking vote in multiple stimulus packages, including the American Rescue Plan and the Inflation Reduction Act, both of which some economists say injected money into the economy at a time that it was already overheating.
So I do think that she is in a delicate place. She wants to talk about the economy because it's certainly on the minds of voters. But she can't talk about it in a way that she can say, well, it's obvious that you are better off today than you were four years ago.
At least with inflation, there are some other positive economic indicators, of course, like Wall Street, S&P 500, like jobs. But inflation is really an issue despite the fact again that it has plateaued a bit.
WATSON: Both candidates have been clearly trying to draw attention to this. This week, we had former president Trump standing with a bunch of groceries outside, I believe, his golf course.
What is your response or your assessment of his economic proposals as he runs for office?
GIFT: Well, I think some of Trump's economic proposals could end up also worsening inflation and no more so than when he talks about imposing tariffs on goods coming into the United States.
He's essentially said that he would impose tariffs of 10 percent on all imports into the U.S. He's also talked about ratcheting up tariffs even further when it comes to China and engaging in a trade war.
So all of that is certainly going to be inflationary. I'm not sure if Trump has the best leg to stand on when it comes to this. He's also talked about decreasing taxes significantly for the wealthy. Again, something that's not necessarily going to help the middle class.
So both candidates, I think from just a pure economic perspective -- I teach economics -- probably don't have the best footing to stand on at the moment.
WATSON: All right, thank you so much, Thomas Gift from University College London, live from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, at the tender hour of 3:00 in the morning, thank you very much for speaking with me. [03:10:00]
Now, thanks to U.S. President Joe Biden is using -- U.S. President Joe Biden is using the last few months of his term to push for major policies and deals, including a ceasefire in Gaza.
On Friday, he said a ceasefire agreement is closer than it's ever been. Mr. Biden says, U.S. Secretary of state Antony Clinton -- Blinken, rather -- will head to Israel on Saturday to press for an agreement.
An Israeli source tells CNN that Israeli negotiators are cautiously optimistic about the talks although such optimism in the past has been dashed. But the source says there is potential for an agreement when talks resume next week.
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JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're closer than we've ever been. I don't want to jinx anything. But as my grandfather said, the grace of God (INAUDIBLE) a lot of luck we may have something. We're not there yet. But it's much, much closer to what it was three days ago. So keep your fingers crossed.
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WATSON: In Gaza, Israel has yet again issued evacuation orders for the al-Maghazi refugee camp and parts of Khan Yunis and Deir al-Balah. Hamas says it's an attempt to, quote, "intensify collective punishment and extermination."
Israel claims rocket fire from the area is the reason for its new strikes. CNN's Nada Bashir joins us live from London with more.
Good to see you. One of the disturbing developments in Gaza, an area where we basically have run out of apocalyptic adjectives to describe the conditions there, a disturbing development is that polio has been discovered in a 10 month-old girl there.
The U.N. is calling for a seven-day pause for vaccination.
Do you see any chance at that possibility?
NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, continuing to see on the ground is a continuous deterioration of the security situation, making it increasingly difficult for humanitarian organizations to operate on the ground.
That has been the case for some time. But as you said, this is a hugely troubling development and there have been stark warnings from U.N. officials. A 10 month-old girl in Deir al-Balah now confirmed to have a case of polio.
This is the first case according to UNICEF, that Gaza has seen in 25 years. And this could certainly spell a troubling trend in Gaza, which is already facing a huge array of health crises on the ground, as hospitals are now at a breaking point.
Now the U.N. has called for a pause in fighting. We've heard from the U.N. secretary general, Antonio Guterres. He has said that polio goes beyond politics. There is an urgent need for that pause in order to carry out this mass vaccination campaign.
They're looking to vaccinate all children under the age of 10. But of course, there needs to be the time and security in place enabled to actually carry out that campaign. The U.N. secretary general saying that the ultimate solution to quelling the spread of polio in Gaza would be an immediate cessation of violence and immediate ceasefire.
Now according to officials, the World Health Organization has approved for the release of some 1.6 million vaccines to the Gaza Strip. But of course, it's about getting those vaccines to those children in need.
And that is the struggle at this current point in time. Already, aid organizations have faced huge obstacles in getting aid and food and medication into the Gaza Strip. But this is a hugely urgent case.
But again, that security situation is only deteriorating. And as you mentioned, we're now hearing warnings from the Israeli military for civilians to evacuate yet again. We've seen those continuous evacuation orders, particularly in the southern region of Khan Yunis, where we've seen these so-called humanitarian zones getting smaller and smaller.
And yet again, civilians in this humanitarian zone have been told to move. Again, the U.N. has said there is simply nowhere safe left for civilians to turn. And as you mentioned, yet, another evacuation order for the al Maghazi refugee camp, an area that has faced continuous bombardment.
Huge civilian casualties in this area as early as October and November. A hugely probably situation on the ground. And hopes for that cessation of violence seem quite a way off at this stage.
WATSON: How do you vaccinate a population under bombardment?
There is an ongoing process of negotiation for some attempt at a ceasefire. The U.S. President Joe Biden, he made an implicit warning to Iran, I believe, that no one in the region should take actions to undermine this process. Those were his words.
Are there any signs that you're seeing, that conditions are perhaps changing for hopes of a ceasefire?
BASHIR: Well, look, we know that communications, dialogue have been opened between the U.S. and Iran. Of course, the world has been holding its breath, waiting for some sort of reaction, response from the Iranian regime following the assassination of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in late July.
[03:15:00]
Of course, Iran blames Israel for that assassination. Israel has neither claimed nor denied responsibility for that attack. But of course, ceasefire negotiations also seem to be making some progress.
There is some cautious optimism around the talks which took place in Doha in Qatar over Thursday and Friday. As you said, Biden issuing that warning to Iran not to take any action that would undermine the progress, the success of the ceasefire negotiations.
Not only Iran but also Iran's proxies in the region, namely Hezbollah in Lebanon. Of course, the Houthis in Yemen. We've seen attacks from both, targeting Israeli territory. But again, there is cautious optimism that we could see a ceasefire being struck.
We know that of course, bridging proposals were put forward to try and close the gaps, narrow the gaps and there's disagreements between Israel, Hamas. We know that a broader framework has been agreed upon.
But again, in the region, there is also some skepticism still.
WATSON: All right. Nada Bashir in London. Thank you for that update and for all of your work on this terrible conflict.
Now, I spoke earlier with Maha Yahya. She is the director of the Carnegie Middle East Center. And I asked her, what's different about this latest round of ceasefire talks, which could lead to an agreement.
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MAHA YAHYA, DIRECTOR, MALCOLM H. KERR CARNEGIE MIDDLE EAST CENTER: What we've seen is maybe some changes, namely the participation of the IDF directly in the talks for the first time; members of the armed forces in the talks right now. But these are mainly to negotiate over the Philadelphia corridor and another corridor.
But overall, the calculus of the key partners has not really changed. Namely Benjamin Netanyahu, his own internal calculus as to why he should strike a deal has not changed. A hostage deal/ceasefire deal is likely to undermine and probably bring down his government, his own ruling coalition.
His own political survival depends on the continuation of conflict by any means possible. So I -- and plus, they really do not have a -- an acceptable, let's say, acceptable to the international community day- after plan, the goal of taking out Hamas.
We've seen the results. It's almost a year now. Nobody, none of us thought that this would last, would continue for a year. But in October it will have been a year; 40,000 officially dead. Polio just announced, first case of polio, et cetera.
I mean, the humanitarian conditions are horrific. Talks about 6 percent of Gaza's population are already been killed. Other than those injured. So it's a horrific situation but yet no victory over Hamas, which is the declared goal.
And the bottom line is, I don't see a victory over Hamas in the way that the Israeli government has been talking about since they won off this thing. We saw this movie in 2006 in Lebanon with Hezbollah.
WATSON: So if your predictions are true, there's no real end for the agony of the civilian population in Gaza, the agony of families of the Israeli hostages. We just saw a report from Nic Robertson about this deadly Israeli settler attack on a Palestinian village in the West Bank.
Just last month, we saw an Israeli mob overrun an Israeli military base.
I wanted to ask you, what are you seeing?
What kind of impact is this ongoing conflict having on Israeli society amid the suffering in Gaza as well?
YAHYA: I hope my predictions are wrong and I hope that there are some backdoor deals happening that we're not aware of, because we all went -- want out of this war. Enough, enough bloodshed. And the risks of escalation will not remain between Gaza or even between Israel and Lebanon.
This is going to engulf everyone. In terms of what I'm seeing within Israeli society, I mean we've seen a shift in Israel to the Right over the past several decades, I would say.
What is very worrisome is that, with the arrival of people like Ben Gvir and Smotrich into the Knesset, their election to the Knesset, their election there, they're becoming part of the ruling coalition in Israel. This has had a direct impact on both emboldening a very violent settler movement that does not believe in any kind of a diplomatic outcome.
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WATSON: To the Caribbean, where conditions are deteriorating in Bermuda, right now, as hurricane Ernesto lashes the island.
[03:20:00]
Significant coastal flooding is expected. As of an hour ago, the center of the storm was only about 40 kilometers southwest of Bermuda. And due to Ernesto's large size and slow forward motion, tropical storm and hurricane conditions will continue well into Saturday evening.
Ernesto thrashed Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands earlier this week and is creating dangerous conditions for much of the U.S. Eastern Seaboard swells from Ernesto caused this home in North Carolina to collapse into the sea.
Meanwhile, in the Pacific, the worst of typhoon Ampil is over for Japan. The storm brushed portions of the country's eastern coast, triggering evacuation advisories for hundreds of thousands of people.
Ampil has now weakened to the equivalent of a category 2 Atlantic hurricane. It will continue moving away from Japan and into the open waters of the north Pacific.
The sound of war is not far away in a Russian town recently captured by Ukraine.
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NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: A sound of small arms fire we can still hear, so clearly there is a bid for the Russians to push back but it simply isn't working and the humiliation for Putin endures.
WATSON (voice-over): Still ahead, CNN gains access to the town of Sudzha, where Russian troops have fled. But hardship for civilians is far from gone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATSON (voice-over): Plus Donald Trump is raking in millions of dollars from investing in bitcoin to endorsing a Bible. We'll see what his latest financial disclosure form reveals just ahead.
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WATSON: Welcome back.
Dramatic protests are taking place across India after the rape and murder a week ago of a female trainee doctor in Kolkata, in which one suspect has now been arrested. And you're looking at live pictures from Amritsar of one such protest.
An estimated 300,000 doctors have been taking to the streets. They've been stopping non-essential medical procedures and demanding long overdue action related to security and protection in hospitals, including for women.
Many of the doctors say there is an ongoing problem of violence toward health workers and some angry patients or their family members threaten them with physical abuse.
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WATSON: Both Russia and Ukraine are reportedly gaining ground on two opposite sides of the battlefield. Ukraine says Russian troops are now 10 kilometers from the key city of Pokrovsk, which is northwest of Avdiivka. The statement says fighting is underway around the clock and the situation is getting worse.
But Ukraine says it is also pressing ahead with its surprise incursion into Russia's Kursk region, reportedly advancing up to three kilometers. A Ukrainian presidential advisor now says the entire point of the operation is to force Moscow to start what he called "fair negotiations."
We now want to show you what that cross-border offensive looks like on the ground. CNN was among the first news organizations to go into the part of Russia's Kursk region that's now controlled by Ukraine.
We were accompanied by Ukraine's military, which reviewed the video you're about to see for operational security reasons. But the military did not hear the sound and had no editorial control. Here's that report.
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WALSH (voice-over): This was never in Putin's plan. But still, into Russia we cross with Ukrainian forces moving forward. Through the border post they destroyed in their surprise assault 10 days ago.
WALSH: As we get closer toward Sudzha, we can see more smoke on the horizon. But still, it's bizarrely calm on this road.
WALSH (voice-over): Pause a moment in these open fields and remember, this is the Cold War superpower. Unguarded, open and never expecting when Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his war of choice two years ago, to be invaded back.
A Russian dead soldier still in the road. Ukraine only claimed here a day ago.
WALSH (voice-over): Well not even the statue of Lenin is unscathed here. This Ukrainian assault, so persistent and Russia, despite its sense of history, it's sort of past as being so impregnable, completely unable to push the Ukrainians out here.
A sound of small arms fire we can still hear, so clearly there is a bid for the Russians to push back but it simply isn't working and the humiliation for Putin endures.
WALSH (voice-over): Days ago, locals had honored their war dead. But none since the Nazis led Russia to face occupation.
WALSH: You can see the damage that's been done to this street here from the intense fight that rage to. Still clearly active fighting happening here.
WALSH (voice-over): A sign in the basement here, they're peaceful people, no soldiers. Ina 68 says 60 civilians are there.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): The Ukrainians brought a lot of boxes. There is food.
WALSH: Just like we've seen in multiple Ukrainian towns over the last two years here, the locals trying to find some shelter from the war around them.
WALSH (voice-over): Dennis Lav (ph) shows his gray.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): This isn't living. It's existing. It's not life.
WALSH (voice-over): In the dark, hunted like so many Ukrainians now. The infirmed isolated, begging for calm.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I don't know how it will end. At least a truce, so we can live peacefully. We don't need anything. I have a crutch. I can't walk. It's very hard.
[03:30:00]
WALSH (voice-over): Day, night, light, dark, news or blackout all blur into one.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): No news, we don't know what's happening around us.
WALSH (voice-over): Yefimov (ph) is over 90 and wants to leave to Ukraine but there is no root out, he says.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): You're the first to come here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): My daughter, niece and grandkids are there. I'm Russian but they are married to Ukrainians.
WALSH (voice-over): Again ordinary streets that never guessed of their destruction or newfound fame days ago. Vacant in the storm around them.
Normal life here vanished in a hurry, leaving store floors as barracks. And Nina, 74, out looking for a pharmacy for her medication.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): If I wanted to leave, I would have. Why leave?
I've lived here 50 years. My daughter and mother are buried here. What about Ukraine?
I live on my own land. I don't know whose land this is. I don't know anything anymore.
WALSH (voice-over): It is a war that keeps turning the world order on its head. Where wreckage that lined Ukraine's fields now horns Russia's. Ukrainians learn to paint over their road signs to confuse the invaders but still hear. The signs ask God to protect and save Russia. That was Putin's job.
It is not clear when he's coming back -- Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Sudzha, Ukrainian-held Russia.
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WATSON: Still ahead, the U.S. presidential nominees are getting ready to debate face-to-face just about three weeks from now. How both sides are preparing -- next. Plus the story that Donald Trump's financial disclosure form tells.
He's still making money but his legal debts are enormous and growing. Those reports after the break.
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TRUMP: Vote Trump and your incomes will soar, your savings will grow. Young people will be able to afford a home.
HARRIS: Bring down costs, increase the security and stability financially of your family and expand opportunity for working and middle-class Americans.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATSON: That's U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and her rival for the presidency, Republican Donald Trump, both taking their economic message to the campaign trail. The two are gearing up for their first and potentially last debate on September 10th.
It's the only debate they've both agreed to at the moment. To help get the vice president ready, the Harris campaign has turned to a longtime aide to Hillary Clinton, Philippe Reines.
"The New York Times" reports he was seen attending a mock debate session this week, dressed as Donald Trump. It's all part of the process for Reines. He first took on the role to help Clinton prepare in 2016.
Now, former president Trump, he has tapped former congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard to help him prepare. Gabbard, a former Democrat, notably criticized Harris during the 2020 presidential campaign over her record as California's attorney general.
We're getting a new peek into how Donald Trump is earning millions of dollars and where he owes millions. The latest financial disclosure documents reveal licensing deals and royalties capitalizing on his fame alongside enormous legal debts. CNN's Brian Todd has the details.
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DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: I have a lot of money. I have a lot -- I built a great company.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): And newly revealed documents showed Donald Trump made a lot of money over the past several months from a lot of different sources. The former president's latest financial disclosure put out by the Federal Election Commission covers all of last year and part of this year.
It shows that among his biggest sources of income earning hundreds of millions of dollars are his resort properties like the Bedminster Club in New Jersey, the Trump tower near Las Vegas and Mar-a-Lago, his Palm Beach, Florida resort earned him about $57 million.
How?
MARC FISHER, CO-AUTHOR, "TRUMP REVEALED": Mar-a-Lago is it operates as essentially a country club and a meeting space. It is a place where all of the MAGA world, or at least the richer members of the MAGA world, come together.
And it's a place where they can show their support for Donald Trump by renting space, thereby having meetings there and so on.
TODD: But Trump also had other interesting sources of income, despite once calling bitcoin a scam, he held more than $1 million in cryptocurrency, has a six-figure investment in gold bars.
He reported making more than $5 million largely in royalties from his books, "Letters to Trump" and "Our Journey Together." And he made $300,000 for endorsing a Bible with country singer Lee Greenwood.
FISHER: Amazon, everything and Trump realized early on in his life that if he could attach his name to lots of different products, get his name out there, people would see that as impressive.
TODD: But there's one enormous financial albatross for Trump that's also reflected in this report.
JEFFREY JACOBOVITZ, CRIMINAL ATTORNEY, ARNALL GOLDEN GREGORY LLP: This income is weighed down by legal debt. He owes E. Jean Carroll money. He owes the court for the fraud case in New York. Those are up on appeal. He's unlikely to prevail on appeal.
TODD: Those judgments against Trump for defamation in the case of columnist E. Jean Carroll and a civil fraud case in New York amount to more than $100 million in financial liabilities according to this disclosure. That doesn't count legal fees he owes his attorneys and possible other cases on the horizon.
JACOBOVITZ: And so the mountain of a money owed will increase if he's not elected.
TODD: And Trump's actual overall wealth, including over $2 billion worth of shares in his social media platform, Truth Social, is a bit of a House of Cards according to one biographer.
PROF. DAVID CAY JOHNSTON, ROCHESTER INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY: Donald has always been desperate for cash because he's not a wealth builder. He is a wealth extractor.
TODD: Will this financial disclosure hurt Trump politically as his race against Kamala Harris, tightens?
FISHER: Anytime we discussion is about how rich Donald Trump is, it probably helps him with his base. It gives them the idea that this is a man who knows how to one thing.
TODD: These filings also showed that former first lady, Melania Trump, earned significant income of her own in 2023 and part of this year, she took in more than $230,000 for one speaking engagement with the Log Cabin Republicans.
[03:40:00]
And more than $330,000 for a licensing agreement for the sale of digital trading cards.
CNN reached out to the Trump campaign for comment on the overall financial disclosures. We've not heard back -- Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WATSON: Thailand has a new prime minister but her name is very familiar to everyone in the country. We will find out more about her when we come back.
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WATSON: Welcome back.
Paetongtarn Shinawatra has been elected the new prime minister of Thailand and now awaits formal royal approval before taking office. She is the daughter and niece of former prime ministers, both of whom were forced out of power by military coup.
In addition to opposition parties both Right and Left, she faces the difficult task of improving the country's sluggish economy.
Now for more, we're joined live by Thitinan Pongsudhirak, senior fellow at the Institute of Security and International Studies and -- in Bangkok.
Welcome to the program. First, I'd like to refer to something you wrote a few weeks ago.
You said that, quote, "Thailand's political direction was not determined by voting but either a military coup or by judicial intervention. That pattern has been maintained since."
And I think you wrote that before the former prime minister was pushed out of power just a few days ago.
What exactly do you mean by that? THITINAN PONGSUDHIRAK, SENIOR FELLOW, INSTITUTE OF SECURITY AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: Well, we've seen a systematic pattern since 2006, where vote results do not count. Some of the biggest winning parties have been dissolved time and again. In 2007 and then now in 2024.
At the same time, there have been two military coups in 2006 and 2014. So basically in the 21st century, Thailand has been run by a kind of a semiautocratic regime.
[03:45:03]
That has taken power or prevented others from taking power via judicial interventions and military takeovers. And now we have Paetongtarn. It looks similar to the past pattern because now Thaksin is back and so her father, the family clan has been running Thailand for years. And they've been kicked out by the military, by the judges.
But this time it's also different. But the first time this family now is working with this establishment, with the people who kicked them out. This is about one big difference now.
And then at the same time, don't forget, we have the biggest winning party, Move Forward Party, that was dissolved last week. So they're the new game in town. They want to reform Thailand's society, politics, constitution. This is the real deal. They're the new game.
WATSON: So this new prime minister is part of a political dynasty really. I don't know how many relatives of hers have been prime minister, from the Shinawatra clan prior to now.
Will she have any freedom to operate, given kind of the interventions that the constitutional court has made in just recent days?
PONGSUDHIRAK: It looks like the royalist establishment has a tight hold on the Shinawatra clan. And they made a deal with Thaksin to come back from exile 15 years abroad. And now they've made a deal so that Srettha (ph) was ousted by the constitutional court, move forward with dissolve.
So she's in power now but now she's working under a different master. I mean, before, her father, her aunt, her uncle in law, they all worked against the establishment or they have -- they were kind of a pause (ph) by the establishment.
But now they are backed by the establishment. So we could see that the space she has is very limited. She'll be desperate. The government would be desperate and the (INAUDIBLE) party that she leads to deliver some results. The economy is in the doldrums. They lost the last election for the first time.
And if it doesn't regain ground, they will lose the election again. So again, you have to look at the other side and the move for a successor, the Peoples Party, they will gain more ground.
So what will happen now moving forward to the next election in 2027 is that the establishment has realigned itself with the Thaksin side against a new challenge who wants to reform Thailand and modernize the country. That is the People's Party.
WATSON: So amid these huge political changes over the course of the last week, have you gotten any sense of the policies, of the proposals that the new prime minister could bring to the table, now that she's apparently on the verge of being endorsed officially and assuming the role of prime minister?
PONGSUDHIRAK: Well, they have been so busy with politics that they have not had a chance to focus on the policies. The policies that they put Thai party had under Srettha, the prime minister who was removed, did not make much headway.
But I think he is said to have tried very hard. He was very hard working. The $10,000 digital wallet scheme to boost consumption has not gone through. The land bridge to connect the Gulf of Thailand with Andaman Sea. Bilateral FTA (ph) is now soft power, not much.
So not a lot of policy headway. So now we will see a new prime minister. He is very young, 37, the youngest time it has had as prime minister. She will have a lot of work to do. It depends on what kind of team she comes up with. And they have to set some policy directions very quickly to deliver some results.
But also at the same time, I'm not sure I'm watching to see the royalist establishment, whether they allow this Paetong-led government to make some headway or not. If not, then Thailand will remain stuck like it has been over the last 18 years really.
WATSON: Wow. OK. Well, thank you for helping explain that. That's Thitinan Pongsudhirak in Bangkok.
I'd like to reach out to you in the future to help explain Thai politics to us. Thank you.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are visiting Colombia. Straight ahead, we'll tell you why Harry and Meghan are meeting with athletes and what this has to do with the prince's Invictus Games. Stay with CNN.
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WATSON: Welcome back.
We're going to Graceland now because a Missouri woman is charged with allegedly trying to steal ownership of Elvis Presley's Graceland estate and millions of dollars from his family.
On Friday, the U.S. Justice Department announced the arrest of 52- year-old Lisa Jeanine Findley. She's accused of orchestrating a failed foreclosure attempt on the king of rock 'n' roll's mansion turned museum.
Findley claimed Elvis' daughter, the late Lisa Marie Presley, had pledged Graceland as collateral for a loan that she did not repay before her death. Prosecutors say that loan was never actually made.
The latest twist in the Paris Games gymnastic saga came Friday, when Romanian gymnast Ana Barbosu was officially awarded the bronze medal for the individual floor exercise.
The reallocation ceremony, as it's called, was held in the Romanian capital of Bucharest. Barbosu's celebration comes after the court of arbitration for sports' controversial ruling that stripped American gymnast Jordan Chiles of the bronze medal.
But the battle for bronze is far from over. Despite recent setbacks, Team USA has vowed to continue fighting for Chiles' medal to be restored.
Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, are in Colombia, supporting efforts to protect children from online harm. But the duke is also promoting his Invictus Games, the competition he founded for wounded veterans. So he joined in for some fun with a group of athletes. Stefano Pozzebon explains their special role.
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STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): We got a rare access to the Colombian Invictus team. These are Colombian military veterans who will compete in next year's edition of the Invictus Games, the competition for injured veterans that Prince Harry launched over a decade ago.
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And these veterans, some of them were able to meet Meghan and Harry as part of their Colombian treatment. For some of them, it was the occasion of a lifetime.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): You may think, because of his status, that he's a difficult one. But when you meet one-on-one, the prince is just such a simple and lovely person. He's down to Earth.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I think everyone in my condition would feel that life stops there, that you can't do anything. And, instead of sport for me, was that big opportunity to begin again, to have a new passion.
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POZZEBON: Because of more than six decades of almost permanent armed insurgency, Columbia has hundreds of thousands of military veterans, many of them injured. At these center alone was founded in 2016 and it treated over 50,000 veterans and their families. Since then, they hope that the visit of Meghan Harry could build
bridges without a veteran movement around the world but also testify to the importance of sport as a new beginning for many of these people after a traumatic accident -- for CNN, this is Stefano Pozzebon, Bogota.
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WATSON: Here's something I didn't know. Apparently the asteroid that killed off the dinosaurs 66 million years ago was a giant mud ball. That's according to a study published Thursday in the journal, "Science."
The space rock was roughly the size of Mt. Everest when it slammed into the Yucatan Peninsula. But all that remains of it is a thin clay layer with chemical traces of it in 66 million-year-old rocks around the world.
Researchers say that the rare clay-rich mud ball contained minerals from the dawn of the solar system.
See what you learn at CNN?
I'm Ivan Watson in Hong Kong. Thanks for joining me. CNN NEWSROOM with Kim Brunhuber is next.
