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Democratic National Convention Begins Today; Large Pro- Palestinian Protest Planned Outside DNC Monday; Israel Declares Tel Aviv Explosion A "Terror Attack"; Ukrainian Forces Destroy Third Bridge In Kursk Region; CA Medical Board: No Restrictions Against Doctors Charged In Connection With Matthew Perry's Death; Democratic National Convention Begins; Democratic National Convention Begins Today; Today: President Joe Biden And First Lady To Address DNC; Trump Lobs Numerous Insults At Harris During Campaign Rally; Trump Voter: "Not Possible" For Harris To Win Fairly; Ernesto Is Again A Hurricane As It Heads Towards Canada. Aired 8-9a ET
Aired August 19, 2024 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[08:00:00]
MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: -- Spravato, the treatment- resistant depression nasal spray. You have to be monitored by a healthcare professional for two hours afterwards, including for things like slowed breathing, and you're not supposed to drive until you've had a good night's rest. And the next day, you can drive because of the effects of ketamine. So, doctors say this can be risk --
AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: Hi everyone, and welcome to our viewers all around the world. I'm Amara Walker. This is CNN NEWSROOM. Just ahead, Democrats descend on Chicago as President Biden gets ready to pass the torch to Kamala Harris.
Plus, can U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, help to get a Gaza ceasefire deal across the finish line? We are live in Tel Aviv and Tehran. And Ukrainian forces blow up another bridge, as they continue to push into Russia. We are going to weigh the significance of the latest developments.
Almost exactly one month ago, Democrats in the U.S. were despondent, as the Republican Convention wrapped up. And to many, a second Trump presidency felt inevitable. Well, what a difference just a few weeks makes. Tonight, Democrats begin their convention on a high, with Kamala Harris surging in the polls and a star-studded lineup, planning to spend the week discussing why she is the right person to lead America into the future.
Harris' boss, President Joe Biden, headlines the first night. Later in the week, we will also hear from former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton. Finally, Harris will take center stage, when she gives her acceptance speech on Thursday night. Our coverage begins with CNN Politics Senior Reporter, Stephen Collinson.
Stephen, great to see you. Obviously, this convention is going to look and feel much more different than it would have had Biden stayed in the race. What do you expect? What do you hope? What are we going to see tonight?
STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS SENIOR REPORTER: I think, tonight, we're going to see an extraordinary moment of a sitting President, who was actually pushed aside by his party, forced to end his re-election bid because of concerns about his age, throwing his full support behind his Vice President and the new Democratic nominee, Kamala Harris.
It's going to be a poignant moment. We know that the President is going to make the case for a Vice President Kamala Harris' presidency. He's going to call out President Donald Trump by name, according to senior officials. And he's going to warn that democracy is at stake in November's election, very much the theme of the campaign that he was forced to shelve.
It will be quite an emotional moment, I think, for the President. He will be effectively ending a 50-year career in politics, although he will still be President until January, whatever happens in the election. And having spoken to a lot of Democrats, especially on the sidelines of Harris events, it's clear that he's going to get a wave of adulation. He's seen as a hero now in his party, because he sacrificed his own career in the greater cause of trying to beat Trump.
WALKER: And a lot of big names expected to speak this week, right, Stephen? I mean, a lots of star power that the Democrats have, compared to the Republicans at their convention. Former presidents and former First Ladies we're going to hear from, which is not what we saw at the RNC.
COLLINSON: That's right. The RNC was quite an extraordinary event because it was a sign. And the reality there was that the party has been purged of any forces that have not signed up to the Donald Trump project. So, for example, former President George W. Bush was not at the convention.
Normally, you would expect former presidents to speak at the convention. We've got two former presidents speaking at the Democratic event this week, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. Obama will play an extraordinary, important role on Tuesday night.
He will be trying to cement the pivot from the current President to make the case for Kamala Harris, and the need for Americans, in his view, to vote her in November, to continue this long-term democratic project that really stretches back to his own presidency after the 2008 elections.
A lot of Democrats are drawing comparisons between the hope and the euphoria and the enthusiasm that greeted his campaign in 2008. And he'll be trying to, I think, sort of pass some of that aura onto Kamala Harris when he speaks on Tuesday.
WALKER: You know, we have seen so much enthusiasm and maybe euphoria, you know, since Kamala Harris got to the top of the ticket. But obviously, there's one topic that has divided Democrats, and that is the Israel-Hamas war. There are expected to be protests from pro-Palestinian supporters, but also there is a number of uncommitted delegates. And there's going to be thousands of delegates gathering at the DNC this week, and there are dozens who belong to the uncommitted movement. Will we hear from them?
[08:05:00]
COLLINSON: Certainly, we will. The question is whether we will hear from them inside the hall. There is definitely a possibility of protests. Almost every Democratic campaign event, including those of the former -- of the current President, Joe Biden, and events, even with the new nominee, Kamala Harris, have been interrupted by protests, campaigners calling for the U.S. to do more to mitigate the Israeli offensive in Gaza, following the terror attacks last year.
Even last night, in the city of Chicago, there were sporadic protests all around the city, small protests, but still very vocal. You had squadrons of police officers on bicycles who would follow around these protests and cordon them off to make sure they didn't cause too much disruption.
I think the overarching question is whether the Palestinian protests and the pro-Gaza movement in the Democratic Party, which did threaten President Joe Biden's prospects in a crucial swing state of Michigan, will that translate to the new nominee?
It's possible that if she is able to create a wave of enthusiasm in that key state, which could decide the destiny of the White House, the impact of Democrats, Arab-American voters, and progressives who are not voting for the Democratic ticket could be lessened by comparison, but it's certainly a worry for Democrats. They do not want to send the United States a message that they are divided and they have issues with protests.
WALKER: Yeah. All right. Well, we'll watch it closely with you. Stephen Collinson in Chicago for us. Thanks so much, Stephen. Good to see you. And as we just mentioned, Democrats are hoping their celebration of Kamala Harris will not be overshadowed by what happens outside the convention and maybe even inside large pro-Palestinian protests are planned for today in Chicago.
Organizers say they are calling for the U.S. to stop sending aid to Israel and demanding an end to Israel's war with Hamas. It is worth noting that Democratic conventions have been marred by anti-war protests in the past. The 1968 convention in Chicago was scarred by large riots, amid cries, to end the war in Vietnam.
CNN Law Enforcement Correspondent, Whitney Wild, joining us now from Chicago, where she has been tracking the preparations for these protests. Hi there, Whitney. How many people are expected today? And what kind of security measures are you seeing?
WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: We have asked the Chicago Police Department many times for specific numbers of how many people they're expecting, and they have been reluctant to put a defined number on it.
But protest organizers say, it's going to be in the tens of thousands, and that protest, one of the largest ones, is set to kick off here at noon. And as you mentioned, the goal here is to try to use the DNC spotlight to shine a light on these pro-Palestinian protests.
Amara, for the last several months, we have seen several protests. And we've been out at many of them. They have been, you know, at least weekly since October, and so far, we haven't seen any large scale challenges, although the Chicago Police Department is prepared for any problems that will erupt at this protest.
However, Amara, I think what's important to note is that they say they have gone through hours, and hours, and hours of training to make sure that they can protect First Amendment rights, while also making sure that these protests don't blow up into something that verges on criminal activity.
So, these are the balancing -- balancing act that the Chicago Police Department is working on. And right now, what they say is that they're relying on their training and that they have enough -- big enough footprint here to mitigate any potential challenges.
WALKER: Are there any concerns, Whitney, that the protesters could potentially find their way into the convention and disrupt the event?
WILD: Oh, certainly. That's something that the Secret Service and Chicago Police Department have thought a lot about. But the security perimeter here is very hardened, Amara. And for example, I can show you behind me, what you see is this eight-foot, non-scalable fencing. This surrounds the United Center. This goes on for several blocks.
And the intention here is to make sure that, if there is any major disruption, that a group of people can't push through this perimeter, and it can be shut down immediately. So, there are multiple layers of security here. The Secret Service and Chicago Police Department, again, have gamed out every scenario.
And they've been planning for this, Amara, for more than a year, and a lot of that includes what they call tabletop exercises. And basically, that's when law enforcement gets together, and games out, and works through potential scenarios. And those can be very creative.
They run the gamut of a lot of different types of things, from lone wolf attacks to mass events. So, the Chicago Police Department and Secret Service says they're prepared for anything that -- you know, that law enforcement can imagine, Amara.
WALKER: Of course. I'm sure they've played out every scenario. Law Enforcement Correspondent, Whitney Wild, thank you very much.
[08:10:00]
It is time for it to get done. Those forceful words from the U.S. Secretary of State, as he is pushing Israel and Hamas to reach a deal for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, calls it a decisive moment, perhaps the last opportunity for peace.
A short time ago, he wrapped up a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel. On Sunday, Netanyahu said, Israel won't give in to demands to end the war in Gaza, as a condition for a ceasefire and hostage release deal, while Hamas claims Netanyahu is obstructing a possible agreement.
CNN's Nic Robertson is in Tel Aviv with the latest. What do we know? Where things stand?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: We know that Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, had a two-and-a-half-hour-long one-on-one meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. A meeting of that length, you would imagine in what would have involved a back and forth in the conversation.
And in essence, that is what Secretary Blinken mission here is to do to persuade Prime Minister Netanyahu towards making some concessions that he is opposed to making at the moment. The Prime Minister's office said that Israel supports the United States bridging proposal. That's the proposal to get around some of the tough issues around the Gaza negotiations.
But Secretary Blinken's track record with Prime Minister Netanyahu in the past about getting him to sort of change his position. It hasn't released since October 7 publicly, at least, hasn't been hugely successful, but I think a two-and-a-half-hour meeting is indicative that that there's some substance that's getting discussed.
Hamas had been very clear so far. And of course, they won't be meeting with Secretary Blinken here. They have been very clear that they think that the bridging proposal goes entirely in Israel's favor. They say that it's Israel and Prime Minister Netanyahu who's creating the roadblocks, and they want pressure put on Israel.
Prime Minister Netanyahu, over the weekend, said, look, we can be flexible on some things, but there's some things we can't be flexible on, and other issues that we will absolutely insist upon.
Now, some of the key sticking points. And as far as we know, they remain sticking points are control of Gaza's border with Egypt. Israel has control of it at the moment, the Philadelphia corridor. Hamas wants it back. The Rafah crossing, the principal border crossing to Egypt from Gaza. Israel has control of it. Hamas wants it back.
Israel doesn't want to let either of those things happen, because they think that's the way that Hamas resupplies and continues the war, controls on the movement of people after the war is over back to the north. That's something Israel wants to keep a level of control over. Hamas says no.
So, there's a lot of very contentious issues. How much they're being bridged so far today, I don't think we'll know about for a number of days before we can get a better read, simply because part of the conversation has to then go to Hamas, and what they're willing or not willing to do. WALKER: Yeah. Such a tenuous situation. In the meantime, there was an explosion in Tel Aviv, which Hamas' armed wing is claiming responsibility for. What do you know about that?
ROBERTSON: Yeah, Hamas is claiming responsibility. They haven't given proof that the suicide bomber involved was one of theirs. In fact, they didn't name him. And Israeli authorities haven't named him so far.
It was yesterday evening. He was spotted walking down a street here with a backpack on his back. And then, there was a detonation. And the shrapnel from that detonation was enough to cause injury to one passerby. The terror -- the suicide bomber was killed in the attack.
But it didn't create a massive, massive blast radius, if you will, which perhaps indicates -- and this is what Israeli authorities are investigating, perhaps homemade explosives, rather than military-grade explosives, but that will be the center of investigation.
So, too, at the center of the investigation was he acting alone. Precisely, where did he come from? But all of the information available so far is enough for the authorities here in Tel Aviv to raise the threat level. And of course, it's sowed a lot of concern in the city here.
Quite simply, this is the first of this type of suicide bombing in almost a couple of decades here in Tel Aviv. So, this is out of the ordinary. It's an escalation. And it's exactly the sort of escalation that Secretary Blinken came here today saying, we need to get the talks done to avoid further escalation.
WALKER: Nic Robertson, always appreciate your reporting. Thank you so much. Live for us there in Tel Aviv. All right. Still to come. Nearly two weeks after their surprise, cross-border incursion. Ukrainian troops are still on the move inside Russia. The latest on Kyiv's strategy is ahead. Plus, an update on the doctors charged in Matthew Perry's death still practicing medic medicine, despite the allegations.
[08:15:00]
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WALKER: India says its Prime Minister will visit Kyiv for the first time since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine two and a half years ago. Last month, Narendra Modi made a highly publicized trip to Moscow, a visit that was criticized by the President of Ukraine.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, meanwhile, confirms that the goal of Kyiv's military incursion into Kursk, now nearly two weeks old, is to prevent Russian cross-border attacks by creating a buffer zone. It comes as Ukraine attacks strategic bridges in the Russian border region.
CNN's Clare Sebastian joining me now live in London with more. Claire, I mean, the attack on the bridges is clearly meant to disrupt the Russian supply lines. How big of an impact could this have on the eastern front lines, where Russia is advancing?
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's really not clear yet, Amara. I think more immediately, the attack on those bridges could help reinforce this whole idea of a buffer zone, right, stop Russia from bringing in more reinforcements and more equipment into the part of the Kursk region, that Ukraine now has established a foothold there.
I think in terms of the eastern front, it's clear that Moscow continues to devote a lot of energy to this. It has redeployed some forces, we know, based on various reports from places like Crimea, perhaps even Kaliningrad, up in Kharkiv. But it is not -- it is much less willing to redeploy forces away from Donetsk to defend Kursk.
And that is because they continue, as you say, to inch forward. We know that there's fierce fighting in several villages to the east of Toretsk, which is a small town, but still strategic. And in the bigger military stronghold of Pokrovsk, which is still, of course, held by Ukraine.
They are now evacuating civilians with some degree of urgency, forcibly evacuating families with children, essentially saying that the Russians are far too close for comfort. So, Pokrovsk, a very important not only military hub, but sort of transport intersection, leading to other military strongholds. So, that would be a major loss for Ukraine.
So, I think the message Russia is sending there is that, even though this has happened, their territory has been invaded in Kursk today, are not giving up on their goals in Ukraine.
WALKER: And it's remarkable, yes, two weeks in that we're talking -- still talking about Ukrainian-held territory inside Russia. Do we have an indication from Ukraine how much farther, how much longer it will go into Russia?
SEBASTIAN: So, I think what is clear, at this point, some almost two weeks in, is that the pace of the first week, where the element of surprise was still there, Russia was still shocked by the whole thing. That has definitely slowed.
[08:20:00]
We're not seeing the kind of lightning advance that we saw at the beginning.
They are still, according to the Ukrainians, edging forward in some areas. One, about 30 kilometers to the north of the town of Suja, which was where the initial assault was focused, the town that they now claim to fully hold. And what we're also seeing, of course, is this consolidation.
They've opened a military office in Suja. The bridges speak to that as well. The explosions on those two bridges that we've now confirmed. It's all about sort of building up their forces and their control in their in the territories they currently hold. Because, of course, they continue to maintain that this is defensive, and they need to stop Russia from using the Kursk region to fire back into Ukraine, Amara.
WALKER: Clare Sebastian, reporting for us there from London. Thank you very much.
Let's turn now to an update in the case against two doctors charged in connection with the death of Friends star, Matthew Perry. The Medical Board of California has told CNN it is investigating the doctors, but adds no restrictions have been imposed on them at this time.
Two doctors face Federal charges for allegedly helping supply Perry with ketamine. An autopsy found Perry died from acute effects of ketamine and drowning last year, with experts saying they have long- held concerns about ketamine abuse.
CNN's Medical Correspondent, Meg Tirrell, joining me now with more. What -- what condition were these doctors allegedly treating Perry for? And ketamine is not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat mental health disorders, right?
TIRRELL: That's right, it's not. But it exists this kind of regulatory loophole, where it is possible for doctors to prescribe ketamine off- label for mental health conditions like depression, anxiety, PTSD. It's also increasingly used for chronic pain.
But the FDA has only approved ketamine as an anesthetic. It was developed in the 1960s. It blocks a neurotransmitter in the brain. And it can sort of distort people's perceptions of sight and sound, and can make them feel detached from their environment and also from their pain.
A version of ketamine called esketamine, or the brand name is Spravato, is approved for treatment-resistant depression as a nasal spray. But we have seen, because ketamine itself is FDA approved, a lot of use of ketamine off-label has been increasing over the last five years, often through these clinics, many of which are cash pay, and kind of outside of the system.
You can see prescription rates, and this is within the formal healthcare setting, have gone up more than five-fold since 2017, according to Epic Research. And doctors are concerned that there is not enough oversight of this, and people can be doing this in ways that could be dangerous to them.
WALKER: And what are the risks of taking ketamine without medical supervision? I'm sure they're high.
TIRRELL: They can be. I mean, this is a pretty powerful drug. And so, for the esketamine drug, that's approved for treatment-resistant depression, there are tremendous guardrails around how it can be used. Patients need to be monitored by a healthcare professional for two hours after they take the medicine because of risks of things like depressed respiratory symptoms, slowed breathing, for example.
They also need to have a good night's rest before they're allowed to drive because of some of these things like dissociation, sedation, psychiatric events, increased blood pressure. So, there are certainly strong effects of this medication that many doctors say can be very positive for patients, but they emphasize this needs to be done in a controlled way to be safe.
WALKER: Yeah. Just -- Matthew Perry's death is just so disturbing. Meg Tirrell, thank you very much.
All right. Still to come. Passing the torch, U.S. President, Joe Biden, will address the Democratic National Convention in Chicago later tonight and make the case for why Kamala Harris should be the nation's next commander-in-chief. And the DNC is shaping up to be a star-studded affair. Once again, here you see celebrities at past conventions. We'll tell you who's expected to show up this time around.
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[08:25:00]
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WALKER: The Democratic National Convention kicks off in Chicago in just a matter of hours from now. And the theme for the day is For the People. The convention will make history when Kamala Harris formally accepts the nomination for President, just one month after Joe Biden ended his reelection campaign.
The U.S. President is set to deliver the opening night prime-time speech. Also, Hillary Clinton, the 2016 presidential nominee and former Secretary of State, is also scheduled to speak tonight. New polling, meanwhile, shows Harris heading into the convention with increased momentum. We'll take a look at that in just a moment.
Tia Mitchell is the Washington Correspondent for the Atlanta Journal- Constitution. She's joining me now live from the great city of Chicago. Tia, it's great to see you. As you know, I mean, things have changed dramatically in the last few weeks, which means that the Democratic organizers had to rework the programming of this convention. What do you expect to see this week?
TIA MITCHELL, WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT, ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION: Yeah, it's so interesting. Just what a couple of months ago, Biden would have been speaking on Thursday night as the party's nominee. Now, he's kicking off the conference, as you know, the President who's passing the torch to Vice President Kamala Harris now, as the party's standard bearer.
So, what we expect, particularly on tonight, is for Biden to make the case for Harris. He will continue to talk about framing the election in a way of saying it's going to say -- that voters need to save and preserve democracy, that former President Trump is a threat.
But again, he's going to say, trust the Biden-Harris administration. Trust Vice President Harris as an extension of him, as a continuation of him. But I also think there will be speakers that, especially from Biden, but leading up to Biden, a way of giving him his flowers, celebrating him, celebrating his legacy, because he is essentially retiring in a few months at the end of his presidential administration. So, I think that will be a big thing today as well.
WALKER: Yeah, it will be a hero's welcome and a send-off that highlights his legacy, and what many are describing as a selfless move to withdraw from the race.
You know, again, talking about just how much things have changed in such a drastic fashion. I mean, months ago, you had Biden, who was trailing Trump in the national polls. And now, you have two major national polls out, I want to show these quickly, amongst likely voters and registered voters.
Over the weekend -- I think this is the CNN Poll of Polls. But over the weekend, we had the Washington Post, ABC News and Ipsos poll, which was the first major national poll that showed Harris with the lead outside the poll's margin of error.
She had 49 percent support from registered voters to Trump's 45 percent support. And then, there's also a new CBS News poll out that shows likely voters nationwide breaking for Harris 51 percent, 48 percent for Trump. There's huge momentum for Harris, going into this convention, but also a lot of pressure for her.
[08:30:00]
MITCHELL: Yeah, a lot of pressure. I think, to your point about the polls, the reason why these national polls are significant, yes, we don't elect presidents by just the popular vote, but pollsters and kind of election prognosticators believe that it bodes well when the Democrat is more than 3 points ahead of the Republican candidate in the national polling.
That bodes well for the Democrat to pull ahead in some of these crucial swing states. So, you know, when the polling was closer, and of course, especially when Trump was leading in these national polls, it really worried Democrats that Biden couldn't be competitive in these swing states.
So, that's why they're paying so much attention to the national polling, because they know that Democrats do well with the popular vote, so the Democratic candidate really needs to do much better than the Republican candidate nationally to really be competitive when it comes to the electoral college.
But, both, the pressure is on Harris to deliver even more so because Biden has stepped aside. And all these standard bearers said, you know, Biden cannot beat Trump. We need a new candidate. They got what they asked for and what they don't want is, in November, it to be well, were they wrong, and were they wrong in putting their trust in Harris?
Now, anything can happen, and no matter what happens in November, it won't just be one thing to blame or to credit, but I think, because there was this last minute change on the Democratic ticket, you know, if it's not successful for years, we'll be talking about whether it was the right decision. WALKER: And just quickly, before you go Tia, how might the divisions within the Democratic Party over the Israel Hamas war play out? What are the concerns of how it might play out this week, given that there are protesters who will be gathering pro-Palestinian supporters outside the convention, but also there are a number of uncommitted delegates?
MITCHELL: Yeah, there are, I think, around 30 uncommitted delegates, but at the end of the day, they're going to be inside the convention hall every night, credentialed, and can make their voices heard, if they so choose. And of course, there are thousands of protesters that we expect throughout the course of the week.
They started yesterday. I do think you know that's why the Biden Administration is working so hard on this cease fire agreement with other nations. Quite frankly, I think there are a lot of nations, not just the U.S., that are invested in seeing an end to the war in Gaza, but unfortunately, it's not up to them.
But, the longer it continues, the concern is these protests will ramp back up, particularly at colleges, as they start to convene for the fall semesters, and we know that the Israel's conflict with Hamas is something that concerns young voters, and just as Harris is doing much better with young voters, and crucial block for her if she wants to win in November, what she doesn't need is them losing steam or turning on her, quite frankly, because of the war in Gaza.
So, it behooves her for that to come to an end. But again, it's tough, because she can cajole, and she has been critical and talked about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, that the end of the day, she cannot make a decision for Israel to come to an agreement. She can't make it make a decision for Hamas to come to an agreement.
WALKER: Yeah. That's an important point to make. Tia Mitchell, glad you're there in such a great city of Chicago. Text me if you need restaurant recommendations, if you have time to enjoy the city.
MITCHELL: Please I am.
WALKER: Really? OK. I will. We have such great food there in Chicago. Enjoy it. We'll talk soon, Tia. Thank you. Well, the DNC will have some A list names, not only attending, but also hosting, as reported first by CNN, each night of the convention will be hosted by a different celebrity. Actors, Tony Goldwyn and Kerry Washington, who played the fictional president and his fixer on the show's scandal, which each host a night.
Mindy Kaling, star of the office, participated in a cooking video with then Senator Kamala Harris and discussed their shared Indian heritage, and CNN contributor and cohost of The View, Ana Navarro says she is a Republican, but is supporting Harris in 2024.
[08:35:00]
CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister joining us now with a look at all the celebrities who will be in Chicago for what's turning out to be a star-studded event. Elizabeth, so why were these four chosen to host?
ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know these four, they all have history with various candidates or with the Democratic Party. Tony Goldwyn, who, as you said, played the fictional President on TV. In his real life, he's been very actively involved with the Democratic Party for years.
Now, Ana Navarro, as you said, she says that she's a Republican, but we also know that she is one of Trump's biggest and loudest critics. Mindy Kaling has been seen with Kamala Harris in that cooking video, which recently got some renewed attention when Trump posted about it.
And Kerry Washington has been one of the most high profile Hollywood celebrities over the years to support the Democratic Party back in 2020 she also emceed one of the night. So this will be a return for her, and she has been a big supporter of Harris.
WALKER: Any truth to the rumor, the many rumors that I've been seeing on social media that Beyonce and/or Taylor Swift will -- will show up?
WAGMEISTER: You know, that is what everybody wants to know, not just because they are the two biggest names in music, but also, because they have shown their support for the Vice President before. I exclusively reported for us that Beyonce gave her clearance to the Harris campaign to use her song freedom as their official campaign song.
So, that would lead you to believe that possibly she could be there, might she perform that song on stage. We will have to wait and see. Now, when it comes to Taylor Swift, she has not made an endorsement yet this cycle, but in the past, she has been very outspoken, after not being politically active for years and years.
She then did start speaking up a few years ago, and back in 2020, she did support Biden and Harris, so all eyes are on her, will she make an endorsement? And because there's still that question mark, that is why her fans, there's a big contingency, a group called the Swifties for Kamala, they're all wondering if she could be there.
But I do want to know, she's in London, she's on tour right now. She's performing tonight in London. She's performing tomorrow. So, could she be there Wednesday or Thursday? It's possible, but she also still has time to make an endorsement, and she will be back in the states on her eras tour in October. So perhaps she waits until then, which is closer to the election, to say something.
WALKER: Now people are looking up that London to Chicago flight, and --
WAGMEISTER: Often that flies, and also the -- go ahead.
WALKER: And from private jet, she can get anywhere, right. I forgot. We're talking about Taylor Swift, OK, not regular folks like you and me. Got it. Also, the Wagmeister, yeah, she could fly whenever she wants. Thank you. Well, it is the Democrats week, but Donald Trump wants to steal their thunder. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: She's a truly radical left lunatic.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALKER: After the break, we'll look at his personal attacks on Kamala Harris as she is getting a boost in the polls, and we'll take you to the State of Iowa to see why it's so important to Trump and the Republicans.
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[08:40:00]
WALKER: While the Democrats celebrate in Chicago, Donald Trump and J.D. Vance are hitting the battleground states every day this week. They will travel from Pennsylvania to Arizona. Touching on a different theme each day, there also likely be more than a little -- just a little bit of bashing of Kamala Harris, if Sunday's rally was any indication.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I am much better looking than her. I think I'm much better, much better. I'm a better looking person than Kamala.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALKER: OK. Kristen Holmes joining us now from Washington with more. OK, so look, the spotlight has been on Kamala Harris since she got to the top of the ticket. It will continue to be on Harris and Democrats this week. What is Trump going to do to, I guess, try to grab some of the headlines?
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're just trying to make this basically not a week that is only about Kamala Harris. They are clearly aware that this is her week. They had their week with the RNC, but now we have moved on. So, Donald Trump is doing a series of events every single day for five days in battleground states.
And here's the kicker, he's doing them at 3 PM, which shows you how he thinks he can kind of weave his way into some of the media narrative. He knows he's not going to get on TV later in the evening, when we have our headline keynote speakers, like Hillary Clinton, like Bill Clinton, like Joe Biden.
So, instead, he's having these earlier events trying to seize at least a tiny bit of the spotlight. So, here's where he's headed. He's going to be in New York, Pennsylvania today. Tomorrow, he's going to be in a place called Howell, Michigan, which is a suburb of Detroit. He's going to be in Asheboro, North Carolina. Then, he's going to be at the border, obviously, talking about immigration.
And Friday, he's going to be in both Las Vegas and Arizona. Now, the key thing to note about all of these events, except for that last event on Friday in Arizona, is that these are being called internally messaging events. That means they are smaller crowds, they are smaller venues, and they are meant to focus on just one topic. Now, whether or not Donald Trump can focus on just one topic, that obviously remains to be seen. Here he is this weekend.
Remember, this is after allies have essentially begged him to stop personally attacking Kamala Harris and instead focus on the issues immigration, inflation, crime. This is what he said in Pennsylvania.
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TRUMP: Have you heard her laugh? That is the laugh of a crazy person. As soon as she laughs, the election is over. I'm a better looking person than Kamala. It was a coup of a President. This was a coup, and they stole the presidency of the United States from him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALKER: Again, none of those are the things that his allies and his own campaign have been encouraging him to talk about publicly. But Donald Trump and he simply just can't help himself. It appears, with Kamala Harris at the top of the ticket.
Can't help himself, but he is helping Harris if he continues to lob those personal insults and not talk about policy, apparently. All right. Kristen Holmes, great to have you. Thank you so much.
Well, one of the states Donald Trump is not visiting this week is Iowa. Voters in the deeply Republican state who were once critical of Trump are now comfortable supporting him now. As part of his series all over the map, John King went to Iowa to find out why and what Iowans think of the reinvigorated Democratic ticket.
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JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Shanen Ebersole cherishes her Maverick streak, not afraid to wander a bit from the herd.
KING (on-camera): There a little headbutt going on.
SHANEN EBERSOLE, IOWA VOTER: Like little boys wrestling.
KING (on-camera): Yeah.
EBERSOLE: That's their version of it.
KING (voice-over): But now, it's time to line up and bring things home.
EBERSOLE: I think it's an easy Trump choice, because we have to put the American people first. I think that the policies that have been put in place in the Harris Biden Administration, they hurt this. They hurt our land, and they hurt the people in middle America the most. KING (voice-over): Ebersole supported Nikki Haley in the Iowa caucuses, a rare voice of Republican dissent in conservative Ringgold County. She then gave some thought to voting third party, because she cringes sometimes at Trump's combative tone, but her family and her farm come first, and Ebersole sees backing Trump as the best path to reverse Democratic trade and climate policies, she says, punish family farmers, fill supermarkets with foreign beef.
EBERSOLE: I can tell you that that cow right there, is better at carbon sequestration than anything else on the face of the earth. and when she does it, she turns it into the most nutritious meat that we could ever offer.
[08:45:00]
When cattle are raised the right way, they help the earth. They don't hurt the earth.
KING (on-camera): And Washington doesn't understand that.
EBERSOLE: They don't at all. They don't live here, you know.
KING (on-camera): They don't ask.
EBERSOLE: They don't.
KING (voice-over): If you want to see a 2024 race up close in Iowa, the State Fair is your best shot. There are debates over food here and games, but the presidential campaigns are nowhere to be found. Their time and money is for the swing states. That's because Trump is strong here, and not just in rural farm country.
This is Cedar Falls in eastern Iowa. Midwest solar is busy, in part, because of Biden Administration clean energy tax credits, but owner Chris Mudd is as loyal a Trump voter as they come.
CHRIS MUDD, IOWA VOTER: I think if all I was selling was government incentives, I don't think business would be very good. But that's not what we're selling. We're selling the power to help people save money.
KING (voice-over): Mudd sees Trump is off his game a bit since the switch to Harris atop the Democratic ticket.
MUDD: I think he spends too much time bashing and complaining. You know, I don't know, I think he'll catch his stride, and I think that he will get back on his horse, and I think that he will say what needs to be said and --
KING (voice-over): Mudd thinks the media is too easy on Harris, and like Trump, he sees no way Harris wins an honest election.
MUDD: I just don't believe it's possible, John, I really -- I really don't. Yes. I would think that and I would think many, like me, would think that same thing. If Kamala Harris gets 81 million votes, something -- something really went haywire.
KING (voice-over): Betsy Sarcone sees such talk as a waste of time.
BETSY SARCONE, IOWA VOTER: I don't buy the stolen election. If she wins, she wins. I'm not -- I'm not getting on that bandwagon.
KING (voice-over): But that Sarcone plans to vote for Trump is a big change. She backed Haley and the caucuses, and when we first met a year ago, Sarcone said, she would vote for Biden if 2024 ended up as a 2020 rematch. But grocery prices are still high, she says, and her real estate business is slow.
SARCONE: I would describe myself as being resigned as opposed to voting for Donald Trump. Again, I just -- I can't vote for the status quo, and I was absolutely better off during Donald Trump's presidency than I am today.
KING (on-camera): Right. I'd say, Kamala Harris, she is a --
SARCONE: I'd say far left, I'd say woke. I'd say sidestepping. I'd say not truthful.
KING (voice-over): Sioux City is to the west, where Iowa meets Nebraska and South Dakota. Attorney Priscilla Forsyth is happy to vote for Trump a third time, even though she too began the campaign hoping for someone new.
PRISCILLA FORSYTH, IOWA VOTER: Cheers. I started with Ramaswamy.
KING (on-camera): Right. Started with Ramaswamy.
FORSYTH: Then I went to Nikki Haley.
KING (voice-over): Now back to Trump.
FORSYTH: I see Kamala and I see Walz as being so far left that it concerns me. I'm comfortable with Trump. We had four years of Trump. We know what Trump is. I'm not voting for him to be my valentine. I'm not voting for him to be my best friend.
KING (voice-over): Forsyth isn't worried about Iowa, but the past few weeks do have her worried, Harris might win the White House. In lawyer lingo, she says Trump, at the moment, is presenting the wrong case, focusing on his grievances instead of her record.
FORSYTH: I think he can win on the issues she doesn't seem to want to own anything. You know, she doesn't own the border. She doesn't own anything. I think right now he's off balance. Now will he get back on track?
KING (voice-over): A loyal explorers fan and a loyal Republican in a solid red county and state, but at the moment, she thinks her candidate is struggling, just like her team.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WALKER: Fascinating to hear from the voters there. Thank you to John King for that. Still to come, we have an eye on Ernesto. The storm is raging and hurricane strength off the U.S. Atlantic coast, but that could change as it moves into cooler Canadian waters. We'll have the latest ahead.
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[08:50:00]
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WALKER: Italy's coast guard is searching for six people missing after a sailing yacht sunk off the coast of Sicily this morning, one body has already been recovered. The yacht went down early on Monday morning. European meteorologists say, a possible landfalling water spout, that's what they're calling it, may have capsized the boat.
Emergency Services rescued 15 people from the vessel, including the captain. Most of the passengers and crew were British. Ernesto has strengthened, again, to a Category 1 hurricane out in the Atlantic, rough surf and rip currents closed beaches along the U.S. East Coast over the weekend. Now, Ernesto could be downgraded to a tropical storm as it moves over cooler Canadian waters.
Forecasters expect the eye to pass near southeastern Newfoundland late Monday. And take a look at these pictures in Connecticut, separate from Ernesto, torrential rainfall along the New England coast caused major flash flooding on Sunday. Crews conducted water rescues in Oxford, Connecticut, when flood waters washed out roads.
About 100 people had to be evacuated, and then, at least one person remains missing. A lot going on. For that, we turn now to CNN meteorologist, Derek Van Dam, that flooding Derek in Connecticut, I but, I mean, it was incredible to see, but it's not connected to Ernesto.
DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yeah, it's important that we delineate the differences between these two systems, because here's Ernesto, we're talking several hundred miles off the east coast of the U.S., the band of showers and thunderstorms that caused the flooding is moving offshore of the eastern seaboard right now.
Here it is on the latest radar, there's a heavier shower that could impact the Cape Cod region, perhaps in the Martha's Vineyard in the next coming minutes. But everything across Central and Western Connecticut, where we saw some of the heaviest rain extending into Long Island, has moved on, at least for now.
So, the ground, extremely saturated. We've seen a lot of rain in a short period of time. In fact, rainfall estimated totals really nearing the top of the scale here. We're talking about six to 10 inches with that shading of white across northern Long Island and Western, and southwestern Connecticut.
That's why the National Weather Service still has these flash flood or flood warnings, I should say, where you see that shading of green. And guess what? These rainfall totals paint a really big picture. You saw the video just a moment ago, some of the search and rescue operations that are underway, and took place yesterday with this band.
But now, with additional rainfall in this weather forecast, this means that we could see the threat of flash flooding reintroduced into the storyline once again, because the ground is so saturated, it won't take much, and if we get one of those storms that moves over the same location that was hit hardest by yesterday's rainfall, we could see localized flash flooding.
Weather Prediction Center has a slight risk of flash flooding for Connecticut, Western and Central Massachusetts, extending northward into New Hampshire and Vermont, and we have been talking about flooding for several instances across the Northeast. This is very consistent with a warming world. We have noticed, in the satellite era, the modern era of record keeping a 60 percent increase in the frequency and intensity of heavy rain events.
And that is simply because as the warm air, as our planet gets warmer, it has the ability to hold more water vapor in our atmosphere, alluding to additional heavier rainfall events. Amara, this is really interesting. 1 degree Fahrenheit temperature increase of our planet allows for 4 percent more water vapor to be held within the atmosphere. That means, we see more heavy rain events, just like this.
WALKER: A significant stuff. Meteorologist Derek Van Dam, thank you. Officials in Turkey are warning of a high risk of wildfires in parts of the country this week because of dry hot weather. Crews have contained more than 200 fires in the past five days alone. That includes two large fires in the west and north of the country.
Turkey has seen intensifying wildfires in recent years, which experts attribute to climate change. China and the Philippines are trading blame after their coast guard vessels collided in the South China Sea. The incident left two Philippine coast guard vessels with structural damage. The Philippines says, the collisions occurred as a result of, quote, unlawful and aggressive maneuvers by the Chinese Coast Guard.
[08:55:00]
But, China claims the Philippine coast guard vessels entered its waters illegally despite repeated warnings. The incident comes despite the two countries having signed a provisional agreement in July the. To allow the Philippines to conduct resupply missions to a Navy ship. And finally, on a more positive note, NBA star, Caitlin Clark's debut season is proving to be the one for the books.
On Sunday, she broke the assist record for a rookie. It came as her Indiana Fever beat the Seattle Storm 92 to 75. When asked about her latest milestone, Clark had other things on her mind.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAITLIN CLARK, INDIANA FEVER POINT GUARD: I thought it was really a fun game, like, these fans have just been crazy and so into it. And I feel, like, especially with how we started the season, like, I feel like they definitely deserve it, and I think they're starting to see how -- how much potential this, you know, this team has, but yeah, I mean, the assist record is cool --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALKER: All right. With 12 games to go, Clark is on pace to break the season record for assists. She is really a phenom. That is my time. Thank you for joining me here on CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Amara Walker. Connect the World with Erica Hill is next.
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