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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; NC Back in Play as Battleground State; Ukraine's Cross-border Assault into Russia; Sports Highlights. Aired 5-6a ET
Aired August 17, 2024 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Welcome to all you watching us here in the United States, Canada and around the world, I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM.
Kamala Harris rolls out her economic policy plans just ahead of the Democratic National Convention. What she's planned and how it's being received in one state, once again, a battleground.
Cautious optimism from leaders around the world following ceasefire talks in Doha. What we know about the outstanding demands from both sides as people in Gaza face more evacuations.
Plus a hurricane in the Atlantic is pulling homes on the U.S. coastline into the water. We will take a look at the track for hurricane Ernesto as it bears down on Bermuda.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from Atlanta this is CNN NEWSROOM with Kim Brunhuber.
BRUNHUBER: Just a couple of days away from the start of the Democratic National Convention and we're getting our first look at Vice President Kamala Harris' planned economic policies.
She unveiled parts of that agenda on Friday in North Carolina, describing the wide range of plans that included tax breaks, tackling price gouging, helping homebuyers and canceling some medical debt.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump will appear today in Pennsylvania. It comes as veterans groups are outraged by Trump's latest insults against members of the military. He was talking about the Presidential Medal of Freedom when he made these highly disrespectful comments. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: That's the highest award you can get as a civilian. It's the equivalent of the Congressional Medal of Honor but civilian version. It's actually much better because everyone gets the Congressional Medal of Honor.
That's soldiers, they were either in very bad shape because they've been hit so many times by bullets or they're dead.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Trump was praising Republican megadonor Miriam Adelson. He awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2018.
Now Trump slammed his opponent's economic plans before she even revealed most of them. He accused Harris of wanting to impose Communist price controls. CNN's Eva McKend looks at what the vice president actually said.
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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.
MCKEND (voice-over): But Harris supporters say her plans make sense.
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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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BRUNHUBER: New data shows a partisan divide in how U.S. consumers view the economy. A new survey from the University of Michigan found Democrats and independents feel energized and more optimistic about the economy in the wake of Harris replacing Joe Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket.
But those who identified as Republican moved in the opposite direction, souring on the economy in the months since Biden passed the torch to Harris; 41 percent of respondents say the vice president would be better for the economy; 38 percent said Trump would.
Earlier I spoke with Ryan Patel, senior fellow at the Drucker School of Management at Claremont University and he talked about the state of the economy and the plan to stop price gouging. Here he is.
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RYAN PATEL, GLOBAL BUSINESS EXECUTIVE: It's easy to say, hard to do, right?
You really need to understand where the gouging is coming from. I think it is a policy that is great to have.
But with inflation still at its height, where can you go and know and understand where it is actually occurring?
Yes, it's great. We need to have to ensure that there's some practices in places that consumers like us don't get taken advantage of and there's these intended consequences.
But where, where is it going to go?
And then on top of that, when you think of price inflation from subsidies, that she's going to go down that route, there's an actual -- it undermines some of the objectives about, you know, getting the national debt in control as well.
So this is not something that is just to say, here, this is what I'm going to do. But having to call up those companies, I'd love to know which one she's going to go after and how that affects the ecosystem and how strong she's going to hold that moving forward.
BRUNHUBER: That's right. There are certainly risks associated with that.
So for Harris running on the administration's record is kind of a challenge. The economy feels different than it reads on paper, with good employment and inflation numbers coming down. It's something that Harris herself admits. I want to play a clip from her. Here she is.
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HARRIS: New numbers this week alone show that inflation is down under 3 percent. Still we know that many Americans don't yet feel that progress in their daily lives. Costs are still too high. And on a deeper level, for too many people, no matter how much they work, it feels so hard to just be able to get ahead.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: So listen, Ryan, this is something you and I have talked about at length over the past couple of months. It's tough to overcome that perception of the felt economy and how she's going to change that between now and November.
PATEL: A great point, yes, the numbers, she's right; 2.9 percent in 12 months through July. That's reported by the Labor Department.
But that just occurred, right?
So you're not going to feel that right now or until November. I mean, yes, it's things are changing but it takes time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: The U.S. President Joe Biden says a cease-fire in Gaza is closer than it's ever been. Biden says U.S. secretary of state Antony Blinken will head to Israel today 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: I'm optimistic, not far from over, just a couple more (INAUDIBLE).
QUESTION: Are you more optimistic now than you have been in months past?
BIDEN: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Now all this comes as tensions grow throughout the Middle East. Gaza's civil defense says an Israeli strike has killed at least 15 people from one family in central Gaza and that more people are trapped in the rubble.
Lebanon's health ministry says an Israeli strike in southern Lebanon has killed at least 10 people, including children. Lebanese officials say the strike also wounded at least five people. Israel says it struck a Hezbollah weapons storage facility in the area overnight.
And the U.S. is issuing a warning to Iran. A senior White House official tells CNN that there could be cataclysmic consequences if Iran strikes Israel in retaliation for the killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.
CNN's Nada Bashir joins us live from London and our Fred Pleitgen is live in Tehran.
Want to start with you, Nada.
What more can you tell us about the latest round of evacuations in Gaza?
NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, we've seen civilians in Gaza have been told to evacuate.
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To relocate for their protection time and time again. According to officials in the U.N. more than 80 percent of Gaza's civilian population has now been forced to evacuate over the course of this war.
And of course, what we've been hearing over the last few weeks is evacuation order centered around the southern region of Khan Yunis, an area where many civilians have fled to in search of refuge.
There is a humanitarian zone or so-called humanitarian zone established on the coastal area, near al-Mawasi. What we've been seeing is this humanitarian zone shrinking in size progressively. And civilians have once again been told to evacuate from this particular humanitarian zone.
And what we've been hearing from U.N. officials, as well as other humanitarian organizations repeatedly now, is that there is simply nowhere safe left for civilians to turn to.
We've had yet more evacuation orders issued by the Israeli military just this morning, including areas in central Gaza, such as the al- Maghazi refugee camp, the main Salaheddin road, as well as two other key roads in central Gaza.
Civilians, once again, being told to move out of these areas. But of course, because of the lack of connectivity in parts of Gaza, the lack of internet connection and communications available, many residents are not actually getting these evacuation orders, are not able to move to safety in time.
And of course, for many who have had to flee time and time again, particularly the elderly, the disabled, those with children, this is extremely difficult and of course, the security situation on the ground is also hugely difficult.
Now the Israeli military says they are targeting Hamas crisis on the ground in parts of these areas. They say they believe that there are militants firing rockets toward Israeli territory and Israeli troops.
But again, these are areas densely populated with civilians. We've seen civilians really pushed into the south of Gaza with nowhere else to turn. So this is a hugely difficult ask and what we've been hearing from the U.N. is that these evacuation orders simply are not enough to protect civilian lives.
BRUNHUBER: And then, Nada, adding to the complexity of the evacuations, the strikes, all the deaths, now reports of the first polio case in 25 years in Gaza.
What more do you know?
BASHIR: Yes, it is a hugely concerning, hugely troubling development now in Gaza. We've seen the health sector in Gaza pushed to the brink of collapse. Hospitals are at a breaking point. But now one case of polio confirmed in a 10-month-old baby, who had not yet been vaccinated.
And this is really setting concerns off over the trend this could lead to across the Gaza Strip. Sadly, alarm bells being sounded by the United Nations. We've heard from the U.N. secretary general calling for a pause in fighting in order to allow for a rapid vaccination campaign to take place.
We know that the security situation on the ground has made it hugely difficult in some cases, impossible for humanitarian organizations to actually safely operate on the ground, particularly when it comes to aid distribution.
What they're calling for now is for temporary cessation of violence and hostilities in order to allow for this vaccination campaign for more than 0.5 million children in the Gaza Strip to take place. They're focusing on children under the age of 10.
The World Health Organization has confirmed that it has released availability to 1.6 million vaccine doses for the Gaza Strip. This is a health emergency, a real point of concern. And what we've heard from the U.N. secretary general is not only does
there need to be a pause in fighting to allow this vaccination campaign to take place but he has said that the main, real goal here, the main vaccine, he says, to quell the spread of polio would be an immediate ceasefire.
BRUNHUBER: All right. I want to turn to Fred now.
Tensions in the region still so high as we wait for Iran's planned retaliation against Israel.
What more can you tell us about the U.S. warning to Iran?
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the Iranians certainly appear to have received that message. Sources that we've been speaking to on the ground here, Kim, are essentially laughing that off.
Not just that but also some of the words that we heard from the foreign minister of Israel yesterday, when he was meeting with the foreign ministers, the foreign secretaries of the U.K. and France, where he essentially said that he expects the E.U. and France to attack Israel, to attack Iran.
That if Iran attacks Israel in retaliation, of course, for the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh that happened here in Tehran on July 31st. The Iranians are still very much saying that there will be revenge for that killing. However, they are not saying when, where and how that is going to happen.
At the same time, of course, these ceasefire talks that are going on and that have been going on in Doha, that, of course, also still a big factor in all of this. And I think one of the interesting things that we've seen, Kim, is that Iran is also a big factor in those talks, even though they are not directly involved in those talks.
One of the things that we have seen as those talks have progressed over the past two days, is that the end of each day, the prime minister of Qatar has had a phone call with the foreign minister of Iran to keep Iran informed about what exactly is being talked about there.
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And some of the progress that is being made, the optimism that we're seeing, for instance, from the U.S. side is certainly not something that we're feeling on the ground here from Iranian officials.
In fact, the Iranian foreign minister did come out. And he said in that phone call with the Qatari prime minister that he warned the Qataris about what he called Israeli deceit in those negotiations.
He also said that the Iranians do not consider the United States to be an objective mediator in any sort of talks. They actually believe that the U.S. is firmly in Israel's corner in all of this. So the retaliation is something that the Iranians say is not linked at
all to the talks. It's something that could happen at any time. But right now, of course, the Iranians are still keeping the Israelis and much of this region guessing as to when and how that is going to happen.
But they certainly are following those talks very closely. And of course, the Iranians have also said that, despite the fact that they do wants to take revenge for that killing of Ismail Haniyeh, they also do not want to throw this region here into even more turmoil than it already is in anyway.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. Speaking of those tensions and the retaliation, I want to take advantage of your insights since you're there.
How is all of this playing on the streets of Tehran?
PLEITGEN: Yes. Well, it's certainly something that still looms very much, something that you see when you're on the ground here in Tehran and other Iranian cities as well. It's a very prominent issue here for the Iranians.
You have a lot of posters here on the streets in Tehran, with the likeness of Ismail Haniyeh on it, vowing revenge; one of them saying his revenge is our duty. But you also see a lot of Palestinian flags at a lot of public places. Hezbollah flags also at a lot of public places.
A lot of the things that show that the axis, as they put it, of resistance against Israel, as the Iranians like to call it. And so therefore, the Iranians are still saying that revenge is still very much in play. But of course, at the same time they are also watching how they play their hand in the region right now.
Because as we've been saying, they don't want this to spiral into a large conflict that could then also involve the United States as well.
One of the things that the Iranians have said and one of the things that they believe that they have shown is that they do have a formidable arsenal of long distance weapons that they could use if they were to conduct some sort of strike.
They say that in the last time that they struck the Israelis, which, of course, was after the bombing of Iran's consulate in Damascus, Syria, that killed several top level Revolutionary Guard commanders, they say that, then in that retaliation, they used a lot their older missiles and drones.
They say they have much more formidable weapons at their disposal now and it is something that they are capable of doing. Of course, at the same time, they do also have a lot of groups and militias around the Middle East that support the Iranians as well.
So right now, the Iranians are still calibrating what exactly they are going to do. At the same time, of course, also watching those ceasefire talks very closely as well, Kim. BRUNHUBER: All right, listen great to have you there, Fred Pleitgen
live in Tehran.
Nada Bashir live in London.
Thank you both.
All right, just ahead, Hurricane Ernesto makes landfall on Bermuda, bringing dangerous storm surge and life-threatening flooding to the tiny island. Plus Japan now breathing a sigh relief and returning to business as usual, after a close call with typhoon Ampil. All that and more when we come back, stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Conditions are deteriorating in Bermuda right now as hurricane Ernesto battles the island. The hurricane's center made landfall just moments ago on the western side of Bermuda.
Ernesto is a category 1 storm but is still packing a powerful punch. Swells from Ernesto caused this home in North Carolina to collapse into the sea. The hurricane is creating dangerous conditions for much of the U.S. Eastern Seaboard, triggering rip current warnings and high surf advisories up and down the coast.
Now we have Bermuda based journalist, Jeremy Deacon, from "The Royal Gazette" on the line now.
So Jeremy, if you can hear me, just give me a sense of what you're seeing right now.
JEREMY DEACON, "THE ROYAL GAZETTE": Good morning to everybody. It's pitch dark, so it's quite difficult to see and the whole island is out of power. I think almost 26,000 customers without power.
So it's kind of a weird feeling. But at the moment, it's strangely quiet. I think we must be in the eye of the storm, which seemed to be going a long time. I haven't been able to see satellite images. So I don't know if the eye is quite disorganized but it is certainly being down for a long time.
But we got problems overnight, absolutely pummeled. I think the weather forecast is here. We're saying we're going to get sustained winds 50 mile an hour or so plus, for about 36 hours. So it's not over by any means.
We're just waiting for the wind now to pick up again.
BRUNHUBER: And obviously, residents of Bermuda, used to hurricanes.
Are they prepared for this one, do you get a sense?
DEACON: Bermuda is extraordinarily well prepared for these things. There's a very, very strict building code in our houses. It fills out block reinforced by rebar and concrete. The roofs are totally solid.
And they leave in no doubt, they take these things extremely seriously. Most people left work or were told to leave work on Friday. They have gone home, packed up their things, tied stuff down, put the blinds down, stocked up on water and food, et cetera.
So yes, extremely well prepared. But (INAUDIBLE) our buildings, so hopefully, fingers crossed, the damage will be pretty minimal, all being well. I think the main thing is, as I mentioned before, the power outage.
Most of our electricity cables are overhead. So we will be without power either by anywhere from like 24 hours to some poor souls several days or even weeks.
BRUNHUBER: OK --
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DEACON: -- you know, but the regimen here, which I suppose is our equivalent to your National Guard (INAUDIBLE). They'll be out anytime today, as soon as it's safe.
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Helping the police to clear up. The city crews would be out as soon as it's safe for doing so. They'll be started getting power back on. Everything prepared, everything's well-drilled. We're very lucky actually compared to other places.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. Let's hope it stays that way. Jeremy Deacon in Bermuda. Wish you and everyone there all the best as you battle this hurricane. Thank you so much.
DEACON: (INAUDIBLE) and take care.
BRUNHUBER: All right.
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BRUNHUBER: And meanwhile, in the Pacific, the worst of typhoon Ampil is over for Japan. The storm brushed the country's eastern coast, triggering evacuation advisories for hundreds of thousands of people with some homes losing power and many flights being canceled.
Ampil is now weakened to the equivalent of a category 2 Atlantic hurricane. And it will continue moving away from Japan and into the open waters of the north Pacific.
Economic plans were the focus Friday for Vice President Kamala Harris as she took her campaign to the U.S. state of North Carolina. We'll have more on that straight ahead. Plus a battleground state emerges in the Deep South. Kamala Harris and
the Democrats look to turn North Carolina blue. Now Donald Trump and Republicans are scrambling to hold onto a state they'd previously won. More on that coming up, please stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all you watching us here in the United States, Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM.
We are just two days away from the start of the Democratic National Convention. Democrats are gathering in Chicago for the four-day event, which will see Kamala Harris formally accept the nomination along with speeches from a host of party luminaries.
On Friday, she unveiled some of her economic plans but her Republican opponent was already slamming the planks of Harris' economic platform before most had even been revealed.
On Thursday, Donald Trump criticized the Democrats' handling of the economy in a news conference at his home in New Jersey. Trump reached back to the Cold War invoking communism and likening Harris' plans as something from the Soviet Union or Venezuela.
The economic plans Harris revealed on Friday included a variety of tax breaks aimed at helping the middle class. She says she wants to create an opportunity economy. Harris wants to help homebuyers tackle price gouging and work with states to cancel some medical debt.
She would restore some popular provisions of the American Rescue Plan, like the expansion of the child tax credit and the Earned Income Tax Credit. And she touted recent gains but said there was a lot more work to do as well. Here she is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: New numbers this week alone show that inflation is down under 3 percent. Still we know that many Americans don't yet feel that progress in their daily lives. Costs are still too high. And on a deeper level, for too many people, no matter how much they work, it feels so hard to just be able to get ahead.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: During her visit to North Carolina, Harris also visited a market that supports small businesses in the Raleigh area. The visits by both sides show how North Carolina is, once again, being viewed as a battleground state. Since Biden ended his reelection bid and endorsed Harris, Trump has
made two trips to the state and invested millions of dollars in new ads.
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Trump beat Hillary Clinton here in 2016, getting over just 50 percent of the votes on his way to winning the White House that year. He won North Carolina again in 2020 with a much narrower margin over President Biden, just 74,000 votes.
The state hasn't backed a Democratic candidate for president in 16 years. So for more on this I want to go live now to Charlotte, North Carolina, and Steven Harrison, political reporter for WFAE.
Thank you so much for being here with us. So just give me a sense of what the mood was like there in North Carolina with Kamala's visit.
And do you feel that her populist economic message resonated?
STEVEN HARRISON, POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, WFAE: I think that North Carolina is, again, we're really excited to be on the map. The Harris campaign or first the Biden campaign, should I say, had been campaigning here when Joe Biden was running for reelection.
But the polling in the energy, it seemed like the state was out of reach for the Democrats this year. Now that Kamala Harris is running for president, there's a lot more energy among the Democratic base.
People are excited, there are more people volunteering and so I think there's a sense now that North Carolina is a true swing state in 2024 than maybe a month or two ago. It just wasn't the case.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. We've seen the polls tighten since Harris became the Democratic candidate. As I mentioned in the introduction, the Democratic track record in the state isn't great. So except for Obama in 2008, Republicans have won every contest there in the last, what, 20 since 1980, it was.
So you think the state is now in play?
Is that just because of the sort of the Kamala feel-good factor she's kind of riding this wave?
Do you think things might settle down in the months to leading to the election?
HARRISON: Yes. I mean, I presume after the Democratic convention in Chicago this week, that Vice President Harris will get a bump. It may even be polling even better in North Carolina in a week or two than she is now.
But I do think things will settle down. North Carolina is a state, I think, that has a slight Republican lean, like you said. It is only ,the Democrats have only won it one time for the presidency since 1976. The key for the Democrats will be they have to turn out their voters
at a greater number than Republicans just because, like I said, there is a slight Republican lean in the state. It's something they haven't done since Barack Obama in 2008, that same energy hasn't been there.
But like I said earlier, you can now feel this excitement that just didn't exist back in the spring.
BRUNHUBER: So turnout is the key for you.
You don't think it'll be convincing those undecided voters?
Are there any sort of issues that are key there in the state that might sway those undecided from one camp to the other?
HARRISON: Well, we talked about turnout. I'm in Charlotte, North Carolina, the state's largest city. It has the most Democratic voters of really any city in North Carolina. It's crucial to Kamala Harris' hopes.
In the recent election, Charlotte has been really lagging in terms of getting its voters out. In the 2022 midterms, it was one of the worst performing places in North Carolina.
In terms of issues, we are such a closely divided state and there are so few voters, true swing voters, I'm not sure there's going to be one key issue that speaks to North Carolinians more than people in Georgia or more than people in Pennsylvania.
I just think it's an issue of both sides mobilizing their bases.
BRUNHUBER: Speaking of mobilizing bases, maybe feeling the threat Republicans have suddenly up pumped lots of money into the state for ads. There
What are you getting the sense from the Republican side that something that maybe they took for granted suddenly is in play?
HARRISON: Yes, former president Trump was in Asheville on Wednesday campaigning. He was in Charlotte a couple of weeks before that. And like you said, there was a period in this election when the Republicans were starting to talk about maybe we can win Minnesota. Maybe we can win New Jersey, Virginia.
You don't hear that talk as much anymore. And I think they are kind of retreating a bit and focusing on must-win states like North Carolina because, for the Democrats, if Kamala Harris wins North Carolina, it's kind of a cherry on top of the sundae.
She will have won the election. They are -- this is the one place they can go on offense. But for Trump, this is a must-win state. There's really no path to 270 electoral votes without it.
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BRUNHUBER: Finally, a very tight race for governor, which I expect is adding extra incitement -- excitement, what role do you think that is playing into sort of overall voter enthusiasm, may, may bring more voters out to the polls?
HARRISON: Yes, our governor's race features the Democrat, Josh Stein, the attorney general and the Republican lieutenant governor, Mark Robinson. Robinson has made a number of extremely controversial comments, inflammatory comments.
Some people say hateful comments and the Democrats believe that the governor's race is so important and is going to captivate voters that it's one reason why they're focusing a lot on North Carolina. They think that a lot of Democrats are going to be concerned about the possibility of Robinson winning.
This down-ballot race will drive people to the polls. We'll see if that's the case so far of Stein, the Democrat, has a decent, a much sizable lead over Robinson.
BRUNHUBER: It's been fantastic tapping into your knowledge of North Carolina, Steven Harrison in Charlotte, thank you so much for being with us. Really appreciate it.
HARRISON: Thanks for having me.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: Ukraine says it's making more progress in its cross-border incursion into Russia. Still ahead, why a former world leader believes the offensive could be a turning point in the war. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Both Russia and Ukraine are reportedly gaining ground on two opposite sides of the battlefield. Ukraine says Russian troops are now 10 kilometers or six miles 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's also pressing ahead with its surprise incursion into Russia's Kursk region, reportedly advancing up to three more kilometers or about two miles.
Meanwhile, Russia claims Ukraine has likely used the U.S. made HIMARS missiles to destroy a bridge in the region.
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U.S. officials say Kyiv has used those weapons in its incursion but they appear to have been fired from Ukraine.
All right, we want to give you a look now at the aftermath of that Ukrainian cross-border assault. CNN was among the first news organizations to go into the parts of Russia's Kursk region that are 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 CNN's Nick Paton Walsh.
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NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: All around us the signs of the intense fight that's been raging inside here. It's very surreal to be inside Russia again with Ukrainian forces leading the way.
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 passed as being so impregnable, completely unable to push the Ukrainians out here.
The 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.
You can see the damage that's been done to this street here from the intense fight that raged. Still clearly active fighting happening here.
And still the question is, where are the drones?
Where are the Russian drones that have made Ukraine's life hell on the front lines for months?
Simply nowhere to be seen.
Well, there's constant artillery as well. Clearly a fight still underway for this, which has become deeply symbolic for Ukraine's totally surprise assault into Russia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: Now in the last hour I spoke with former Swedish prime minister Carl Bildt, who now co-chairs the European Council on Foreign Relations. And he recently wrote that the incursion into Russia is a turning point.
He said that proves Vladimir Putin is wrong in thinking that Ukraine can be ground into submission. I asked him if he was surprised by Ukraine's advance.
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CARL BILDT, FORMER SWEDISH PRIME MINISTER: I think a lot of people are surprised because, if we go back a year in time, we had the much, much hyped, we have to say, Ukrainian attempt at a counter offensive and everyone expected the Ukrainians to do something rather radical to change situation on the battlefield. That failed miserably and what we've seen since then is that element
of pessimism concerning the Ukrainian military abilities to change the situation on the battlefield.
And then suddenly, because cooperation comes, which demonstrates that they are really capable of rather impressive offensive military operation. So that changes the entire strategic political picture of the conflict.
There is no doubt about that.
BRUNHUBER: Right. And among the people, perhaps surprised by this, Putin as well, right?
So when you say it might be a turning point in the war, you mean politically. So explain to us why exactly.
BILDT: Yes, (INAUDIBLE) what it means militarily other experts can probably go into more details about that. But it clearly changes the political calculus. It is profoundly embarrassing for Mr. Putin to see Ukrainian forces spreading fairly deep into Ukraine -- into Russian territory.
And while he said, when it started, he said -- and his chief of staff Gerasimov said, we got to throw them out very quickly. We are now more than 10 days into this operation and we have no sign whatsoever of any serious Russian response.
So it shows that what he's been building up as his narrative of gradually grinding down the Ukrainians, the Ukrainians having no capabilities doing (INAUDIBLE), suddenly we have the Ukrainians go into Russian territory, profoundly, profoundly embarrassing for Mr. Putin.
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BRUNHUBER: The Organization of American States has adopted a resolution, calling for the publication of Venezuela's presidential election records; specifically, the results from each polling station.
The resolution comes two weeks after the failure of a previous draft and following widespread protests questioning the legitimacy of the recent claim by president Nicolas Maduro.
The resolution calls for the national electoral council of Venezuela to, quote, "respect the fundamental principle of popular sovereignty through an impartial verification of the results that ensures the transparency, credibility and legitimacy of the electoral process."
We'll be right back.
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BRUNHUBER: Romanian gymnast Ana Barbosu has officially been awarded the Olympic bronze medal amid the ongoing controversy after the medal was first awarded to American Jordan Chiles. "CNN SPORT" anchor Andy Scholes joins us now with more.
So Andy, is this finally the end of this saga?
ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORT CORRESPONDENT: Wow, no, because the U.S. said they are going to continue to appeal this all the way to the Swiss tribunal.
Will that be successful?
Have to wait and see but, in the meantime, Ana Barbosu was officially given that bronze medal for the floor routine by an official from the International Olympic Committee in a reallocation ceremony in Romania on Friday.
The 18-year old also given flowers by the prime minister. Now the medal Barbosu received not the one that was given to Jordan Chiles in Paris nearly two weeks ago. Chiles reportedly still has her bronze and she said in a social media post this week, she hopes that the people in charge will eventually make the right decision in the end here.
But after receiving her medal, Barbosu said she's looking forward to just turning the page on this whole controversy.
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ANA BARBOSU, OLYMPIC GYMNAST (through translator): The resolution of the case was possible, thanks to the Federation and the law firm that did not give up on us. The sportswomen fought for all of us and wanted there to be three bronze medals.
I thank them because they fought for us and continue to fight. I'm very happy to have this medal and I hope to continue to represent Romania at the highest level and bring back as many medals as possible.
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SCHOLES: Elsewhere, Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever returning from the Olympic break taken on the Mercury last night. It looked like the break agreed with Clark. She came out on fire, scoring 13 of her 29 points in the first quarter.
Clark also dished out 10 assists in this one. Clark, the first rookie in league history to have 450 points and 200 assists in a 27-game span.
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Fever to win now at 98-89. Afterwards, Clark talked about getting back in the swing of things.
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CAITLIN CLARK, IOWA GUARD: (INAUDIBLE) six months in. And I was like, holy cow. (INAUDIBLE) around seven minutes and I called for (INAUDIBLE). I need a quick minute here because we were playing fast. And I can, you know, that might be defense isn't as good.
So it's kind of a liability for my team. So you've just got to get a second to breathe.
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SCHOLES: All. Right baseball another day, another home run for Aaron, Judge, he got a hold of this, one of the eighth inning against the Tigers last night is his league-leading 44th home run of the season.
Yankees are now at 3-0. Right now, Judge, on paper had 58 homers this season. And finally a rough day at the office for Carlos Alcaraz at the Cincinnati Open. In third set, he doesn't get to this ball from Gael Monfils. Edges and loses it, destroys his racquet.
Alcaraz lost that match in three sets. He called it the worst match he's ever played in his entire career, Kim.
He'll have a little, little time to think about that before the U.S. Open starts August 26th in New York.
BRUNHUBER: Oh, my gosh, I've felt like doing that before but I can't afford to replace my racquet like that.
SCHOLES: Yes.
BRUNHUBER: Andy Scholes. Thank you so much. Appreciate it.
The 76th Emmy Awards will be a comedy family affair when it airs on September 15th. Canadians Eugene and Dan Levy will become the first father and son team to host the broadcast, which honors the best in U.S. television.
Eugene Levy, of course, rose to fame in movies and on SCTV, where, with Dan, their hilarious comedian sitcom, "Schitt's Creek," won nine prime-time Emmys in 2020. And previous Emmy hosts include Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon.
All right, that wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kim Brunhuber. For viewers in North America, "CNN THIS MORNING" is next. For the rest of the world, it's "AFRICAN VOICES."
