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CNN International: Tonight: Harris To Formally Accept Presidential Nomination; Trump Tours U.S. Southern Border In Arizona; Gaza Ceasefire Talks Expected To Resume In Cairo; Ukrainian Forces Expanding Offensive Inside Russia. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired August 22, 2024 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:49]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN HOST: It is 8:00 p.m. in London, 2:00 p.m. in Chicago, 10:00 p.m. here in Tel Aviv.

I'm Jim Sciutto. Thanks so much for joining me today on CNN NEWSROOM. And let's get right to the news.

The final edits are being made in Kamala Harris's speech of a lifetime. Tonight, the vice president officially accepts the Democratic Party's nomination for president, making history as the first Black woman and first Asian-American at the top of a major ticket. It will likely be her biggest audience ever.

The political stakes are certainly high. Harris is surging in polls, closing the gap and even in some cases, running ahead former President Donald Trump, just three weeks after assuming leadership of her party, but still a lot of Americans don't know Harris very well. This will be her chance to sell her story and her political vision.

Last night, her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, frame the race through his own life story coaching high school football.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. TIM WALZ (D-MN), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's the fourth quarter. We're down a field goal, but we're on offense and we've got the ball. We're driving down the field.

And boy, do we have the right team.

We got 76 days. That's nothing. There'll be time to sleep when you're dead. We're going to leave it on the field.

(CHEERING)

(APPLAUSE)

WALZ: That's how we'll keep moving forward. That's how we'll turn the page on Donald Trump.

That's how we're going to fight.

And as the next president of the United States always says, when we fight --

(CROWD chanting We win!)

WALZ: When we fight --

(CROWD chanting We win!)

WALZ: When we fight --

(CROWD chanting We win!)

WALZ: Thank you. God bless.

(CHEERING)

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: The makings of a new political rallying cry there.

Let's go to Kevin Liptak. He's in Chicago.

So, Kevin, the top of the ticket tonight, I know they keep a lot of the speech deliberately secret before the event, but what do we know about it so far?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, we know that she's been practicing pretty intently. She's been mostly behind closed doors at her hotel here in Chicago all week practicing on the teleprompter. This is a speech that she's been working on really since the moment President Biden stepped down as the Democratic nominee, actually think she's probably, you've been working on it before that? Since she was always going to deliver a speech at this convention, they probably tweaked it a little bit.

But this is something that she is spending a lot of time on, you know, very cognizant of the fact that this is the most important moment of her entire political career. I'm told that there are three sort of main areas that she's going to talk about tonight. One is to just introduce herself to the American people.

Obviously, we know who she is, but a lot of Americans are just tuning into this race right now.

So she's going to stress her working class background. She talks a lot about how she worked at McDonald's when she was a student. She's going to talk about her record as a prosecutor and use that as justification for her run for president.

She's also going to make the contrast, of course, with Donald Trump. She's going to call herself that candidate of the future, while sort of framing Donald Trump is a candidate of the past and sort of these dark grievances. And obviously, we've heard a lot about that from the convention podium this week. And then that she's going to want to talk about patriotism, I'm told,

making the case that she could be the candidate for all Americans and, of course, this is such a historic speech is significant speech. The first woman of color, the first Asian American to assume the nomination for the Democratic Party or any major party. So, it's an important moment and I think the goal really for her is to try and turn the momentum on which she I wrote into this convention into a movement that will propel her into November.

But you know, I think there's still a lot of questions and when you talk to delegates this week and certainly when you talk to the Democratic officials who are here in Chicago, they will acknowledge that what comes next is something of an unknown at the end of the day, what Democrats are doing here is completely unprecedented. There's no playbook in American politics for switching out your nominee 100 days before the election and winning in November.

So after the balloons drop tonight, after everyone, you know, is leaving from O'Hare tomorrow morning, there are questions about how they will convert this over the next several months into a win.

[15:05:10]

Certainly, this has been a euphoric convention. They're up in the polls. They're up in the fundraising. They're up in the just the general vibes.

But what comes next is very much something that is on everyone's mind that you talked to here and it's kind of the undercurrent of what has been a very energetic, very electric convention.

SCIUTTO: Yeah. And, of course, the challenge now for the Democratic Party, we've turned that electricity into votes on Election Day.

Kevin Liptak in Chicago, thanks so much.

So as Kevin was just laying out there, three objectives for Harris tonight, introduce yourself, draw a contrast with Trump and root her vision in one word, patriotism. So how much he knew that?

Let's discuss with Scott Shafer. He's a senior politics editor at KQED in San Francisco, where he has covered Harrisons are very first forays into politics.

Scott, thanks so much for joining.

SCOTT SHAFER, POLITICS EDITOR, KQED: Good to be with you.

SCIUTTO: You know her story well. You've covered her for decades.

Despite that though, folks know her name certainly, but they don't really know her. A poll out this week showed a third of voters don't know what she stands for.

So I wonder, knowing what she has done for these last several years, how do you think she does that tonight? SHAFER: Well, she really wants to fill in a lot of the blanks that are left and do it to before the Republicans do, of course. I think she's going to lean into her family history.

You know, both of her parents were immigrants. Her mom came to California from India when she was a young woman. Their dad came from Jamaica. They are both researchers.

Her mom was a cancer researcher. She was very close to her mother. Her parents split up when she was about seven.

But I think well hear her talk about her values, what she learned going up the up the ladder of politics. You know, when she first ran for district attorney in San Francisco, she ran is not as a liberal, but as the moderate candidate. She knocked off a more liberal district attorney.

And so, she's always been very passionate about issues, especially those involving justice, civil rights, kids, young women, especially women being trafficked, that kind of thing.

But she's also very pragmatic. She's not somebody who's going to stake out a very far left position. She didn't do that in the Senate. She didn't do it as attorney general and I doubt were going to hear her talking about that tonight.

She'll be I think leaning into things that are kind of kitchen table issues. We've heard a little bit of this week, bringing down the cost of prescription drugs, child credits, childcare credits that will make life a little easier for working parents, that sort of thing.

But I think that really she needs to make that, you know, fill in the biography because as you said, a lot of people really don't know who she is.

SCIUTTO: Yeah, and to your point, right? When you look at, for instance, law enforcement, that is certainly one that does not fit the comrade Kamala moniker that, for instance, Trump is trying to attach to her even at times angering progressives, right? For how aggressively she went after crime.

There has been a lot of focus on family at this convention. Kamala Harris has a blended family, as do many Americans with her husband, Doug Emhoff, two step kids. There were huge emotional moments with Tim Walz's family last night, that moment with his son mouthing, shouting, "I love you, dad", really electrified the audience there.

Do you expect family, her family to play a similar role in her speech tonight?

SHAFER: I do. I mean, she's talked a lot about being stepmom to these two children that Doug Emhoff had with his previous wife and he is close to his ex-wife as well. She's been in the audience at some nights here in Chicago. And I'm sure that those two kids who are young adults right now are going to be on the stage. I'm sure her sister, Maya, and her husband, Tony West, who has in the Obama Justice Department, will be there as well.

And so, I think that is really very much part of her story. And you'll hear a lot about them, a lot about what family means to her. And I'm sure that there'll be very much present when she's giving her address tonight to accept the nomination.

SCIUTTO: Yeah. Yeah, you've heard Doug Emhoff refer to her as Momala in their household.

So this convention, it has been relatively light on policy. There are certainly been attacks against Trump. A lot of value statements, big picture value statements focused on freedom. Lots of talk certainly of women's reproductive rights, but less policy specifics, for instance, on the economy, immigration, et cetera.

Is there a mandate for Harris tonight to lay out a more detailed policy vision?

SHAFER: There is to a certain extent, but I don't think people tune into these speeches to hear details on immigration or border security, or the economy, those sorts of things. I think they want to know, does she care about people like me? Does she care about the issues that my family and I are dealing with on a regular basis, whether its student debt or whatever?

[15:10:02]

So I think that really that is rather than detailed policy prescriptions, those things will come in the days to come. They've already -- we've heard a little bit about our economic policy and plan. We'll hear some of that tonight, but I wouldn't expect it to go into great detail. It's not great TV, frankly.

SCIUTTO: Yeah. And, listen, I mean, the ratings have been good, good for this convention so far, this week.

Scott Shafer, thanks so much. We appreciate you sharing your experience.

SHAFER: You're welcome.

SCIUTTO: And we will have much more from the Democratic National Convention later in this program.

Former President Donald Trump, he has been busy on the campaign trail this week, attempting to draw some attention away from the DNC. Today, he's in Arizona seeking to highlight one of his campaign's key issues and that is border security.

CNN's Kristen Holmes, she is there and she joins me.

Kristen, when you look at him down at the border, for instance since encounters at the border are down from their peak, I wonder how he is attempting to message the border in light of that and wonder as they watch the DNC and certainly Trump himself, very conscious of television ratings. These ratings are better than his convention. Is he worried?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, first, lets start with what's going on with immigration because we know this is a key issue and Donald Trump's campaign believes that even if the numbers are going down slightly, that this is going to remain in a larger concern for voters.

Now, the one thing that they're going to be focusing on in this is something Donald Trump has done time and time again as essentially stoke fear. He's going to link immigration to crime. He's going to say that people crossing the border are committing crimes. And obviously as we know and as we have reported, while there have been some high profile crimes, I people who have come into the country illegally, that is by no means than the norm.

But Donald Trump is obviously going to try and do whatever he can to make immigration as an issue. And it is an issue for so many voters and he's going to continue to talk about that today when he takes the stage or when he takes this podium behind me, I'm not sure what you can actually see behind me. We're kind of far from where he is. He's just doing a tour of the border.

But remember, this is exactly where Donald Trump feels the most in his element because he believes he is stronger on immigration and polling had shown that he was strong on immigration when it comes to President Joe Biden. They believe they can make that same case for Kamala Harris. That, of course, remains to be seen as this race really progresses.

Now, in terms of ratings, of course, Donald Trump is paying attention, and he's also watching the DNC. We know most of his events have been wrapping. He's been on the plane while he's been heading home back to Mar-a-Lago while some of these speeches are ramping up, they've had the coverage on the plane. He has been shown clips of various speeches and he's reacted already.

Yesterday, he was talking about the Obamas speech going after them. Then he did a separate interview after that and continued to rail against the Obamas.

You're going to continue to see that because he does not like when people are talking negatively about him and that's what we've seen a lot of at the DNC.

Now, when you hear going in to the DNC that he was going to be watching the ratings. Of course he is. We'll have to just see now because we talked to his campaign. They believe that this is the end of Kamala Harris's bounce, that this is -- she's going to see a little bit more energy after this. And then the race is really going to shake out.

But, Jim, you know, we've talked about this a lot. We're really an unprecedented times what actually happens in the next few months remains unknown where the voters land, where Kamala Harris lands, what this race actually look like. We are all still trying to figure that out. And that includes Donald Trump's team.

SCIUTTO: No -- tomorrow, Trump's expected to appear alongside Robert F. Kennedy Jr. who is expected not only to drop out of the race per perhaps endorse him how did we get to this moment?

HOLMES: Well, so just to be clear, we are not an hundred percent sure that he is endorsing Donald Trump tomorrow or appearing at the rally. We were told that there are negotiations and they are far along, has been going on for several weeks between RFK's team and Donald Trump's orbit on securing this endorsement.

Now, we do know that tomorrow when Robert F. Kennedy takes the stage or when he holds his event in Phoenix, he will be suspending his campaign. What happens next? That is what they are still working on.

Now, the hope for Donald Trump's team is that he endorses him, appears next to him at his rally, which is outside of Phoenix tomorrow night. But this has been an evolution.

One of the things to remember is that Donald Trump's team, even though they sat at certain points publicly, they didn't believe that RFK would take votes away from Donald Trump. They certainly did. They had some fears that they were certain voting demographics that were kind of tired of Donald Trump, but would vote for him if RFK was out of the race. That is why they're hoping for this endorsement.

Just remember, this race is going to come down to a handful of votes. And anything they can get -- let's talk about the state of Arizona, for example, RFK is polling around 6 percent. That's not nothing.

Now that doesn't mean that all 6 percent, if he drops out and endorses Trump, are going to go to Donald Trump, but they want all the help they can get and they view this as a win.

[15:15:01]

SCIUTTO: Kristen Holmes down there at the border, thanks so much.

Our live coverage from Israel continues ahead. On the latest on the ceasefire and hostage release negotiations, which will meet again this weekend in Egypt.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCIUTTO: Welcome back.

Ceasefire talks to end the war in Gaza are expected to resume in Cairo this weekend with CIA Director Bill Burns returning to the region for yet another diplomatic push. But while U.S. officials insist that Israel has accepted the U.S. bridging proposal, the prime minister's office has now denied agreeing to withdraw Israeli troops from what's known as the Philadelphi corridor, right along the border between Gaza and Egypt.

CNN's Nada Bashir and Jeremy Diamond join me now.

Nada, first to you, it's been a week since the U.S., Egypt and Qatar presented their bridging proposal. Where exactly do things stand now?

I mean, Israeli officials and the prime minister specifically are digging in on maintaining an Israeli military presence along that border there. That seems to be a non-starter, not just with Hamas, but it also seems to be a position that the U.S. is not prepared to accept.

NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Jim. And the whole purpose of these bridging proposals put forward by the U.S. has been to try and narrow those gaps, but indications at this current point in time suggests that there are still significant gaps, significant sticking points between Israel and Hamas, including as you mentioned, the Philadelphi corridor.

Now, talks here in Cairo have gotten off to a slightly slower start than anticipated. They are now sliding into the weekend. We have in the last few hours, seek confirmation from the Israeli the prime ministers office that an Israeli delegation is currently in Cairo. Sources say that the Mossad head David Barnea is amongst those in the delegation.

As you mentioned, we are expecting to see the CIA Director Bill Burns arriving tomorrow and the White House has said that its coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa.

[15:20:07]

Brett McGurk is also currently in Cairo. So we are seeing that high level diplomatic presence here in Cairo. The pressure certainly mounting for these high-stakes talks.

U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris speaking to Prime Minister Netanyahu yesterday, reiterating that urgent need for a ceasefire as soon as possible. That pressure has been mounting, of course, from a relative of my family members some representatives of hostages still held captive in Gaza. And, of course, as we continue to see the situation in Gaza deteriorating.

But again, those sticking points are proving consistent. We have heard, of course, calls for at the Israeli forces to fully withdraw from Gaza. That is what Hamas wants to see.

Now we're hearing conflicting reports of the Israeli prime minister has said that they well remove forces from the Philadelphi corridor. That crucial buffer zone between Egypt and southern Gaza, Israel used onto the prime minister's office the presence of troops there as crucial to Israel's post-war security.

But that is something non-negotiable for Hamas as things currently stand and there have also been discussions around a new terms according to Hamas put forward by the Israeli prime minister at around the release of Palestinian prisoners.

So, clearly, those gaps still remain. That will be the focus of these talks taking place this weekend, but again, that optimism is certainly fading. SCIUTTO: So, Jeremy, clearly there's some daylight. It seems between the U.S. and Israel, but I wonder is there a daylight between the positions of senior Israeli government officials as well because I thought it was notable that you had the Israeli defense minister say quite publicly today that he believes that Hamas's Rafah wing down in the south has been destroyed and that they have destroyed the tunnels and so on.

Was he messaging that his view is that actually an Israeli presence there is not necessary and that there's disagreement with the prime minister?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: There's definitely disagreement and not just between the prime minister and the defense minister, but also we've seen, you know, we saw wave a few weeks ago of reports of the Mossad director, the head of the Shin Bet, all of them pushing back on the prime minister, all of them trying to convince the prime minister that now is the time for a deal.

What the defense minister is trying to make the case for is this notion that you can have both security, you can achieve in the goals of the war and you can also actually go for a hostage deal.

Now, in terms of the disagreement between Netanyahu and Biden, like you said, nothing new. We've seen that for, but it comes at such a critical stage right now where the U.S. and Israel, you know, we saw Blinken earlier in the week, say that Israel had agreed to this bridging proposal and, then last night it sounds like Biden needed to get on the phone with Netanyahu and say, hey, we need more. We need more.

SCIUTTO: I mean, the trouble is pressure like that in the past from the U.S. president to the Israeli prime minister, does not seem to have moved to it.

DIAMOND: That's true. And I think it depends, first of all, on how much -- how much teeth there actually is behind those words. And we've seen sometimes the U.S. has been willing to put more pressure like with Rafah, withholding certain munitions which actually cause the Israelis to downsize their plans for a Rafah invasion.

Right now, we're not seeing anything concrete actually tied to that U.S. pressure, at least not publicly, so far. So, that -- that remains to be seen.

And, Nada, just for quickly back when we look to Cairo, Hamas as usual, will not be present at the latest iteration of these negotiations, so they will be relying on how mediators describe the positions?

BASHIR: Yeah, absolutely. Hamas has been clear, they will not participate in these negotiations, but will participate with mediators in the after words if there is a significant movement from the Israeli side, they see significant and acceptable in the eyes of Hamas proposals put forward by the Israeli delegation. Now, we heard earlier in the week, President Biden suggesting that in

his words, Hamas was backing off from a deal, but we've been hearing from Hamas officials some rejection of that notion, said that the mediators involved from primarily Cairo and of course, officials in Qatar are fully aware of where Hamas stands on these negotiations, that they are keen to see an end to the violence in Gaza.

But they have been clear, they want to see a deal that reflects the proposal put forward by Biden in late May, a deal which they say they agree to in early July. So they are continuing to work with mediators on that, but they have accused the U.S. government of in their words, vowing and forming two Israeli demanded of accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are putting forward new conditions, new demands. They say are designed to store these ongoing negotiations, conditions which in the eyes of Hamas are not acceptable.

One official saying that the current deal on the table does not stipulate a permanent ceasefire. That is something that Hamas have been clear about, wanting to see in that deal. But again, we are still waiting to hear more from officials with regards to the full terms of those bridging proposal.

SCIUTTO: Nada Bashir, Jeremy Diamond, thanks so much to both you.

[15:25:03]

So with no ceasefire in sight, the death toll in Gaza continues to rise. Overnight, an Israeli airstrike in northern Gaza killed 12 people the majority of them were women and children, including two 16- month-old twins.

CNN's Nic Robertson reports on the constant death and displacement inside Gaza. A warning, some of these images are disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): As peace talks stall, an overnight Israeli airstrike in Northern Gaza.

Pulled from the rubble, charred children, images too horrific to broadcast. Twelve dead, no injured, no survivors, according to Palestinian officials.

Israel's military says they're looking into the incident.

In the past few days, strikes killing families in the north, center, and Southern Gaza.

As diplomacy fails, desperation in Gaza increases. In parallel with the renewed push for peace, Israel's military is pushing into previously declared safe zones.

Over the past month, CNN has tracked a more than one-third reduction in the areas supposedly safe from Israeli strikes. Less than 11 percent of Gaza technically safe.

But even the shrunken safe zone, no protection for Mahmoud Abu Tiyor's (ph) three-year-old niece killed in a tent in the safe area, he says.

They attacked us by surprise. All of a sudden, a quadcopter came on us and started shooting. We ran away towards the beach, but my niece was killed.

While diplomats shuttled to talks, Gazans are increasingly on the move too, reluctantly responding to increasing Israeli evacuation orders, telling them their sanctuary, not safe.

This is the 10th time we've been displaced, he shouts. Where shall we go to? Where shall we go to?

We ask all the world, Biden and the others, all the Arab states, to find a solution, Abu Mohammed Hajaj (ph) says. The Palestinian people are dying. The people of Gaza are being killed and going through hell.

Absent a peace deal, Gaza's unsafe safe zones appear to face extinction.

Gazans themselves caught in a roulette with no good options.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Tel Aviv.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCIUTTO: Gaza's unsafe safe zones.

Coming up, the Kremlin is accusing Ukrainian military expanding its operation into Russia, of course, two-and-a-half years after Russia carried out its own full scale invasion of Ukraine. What we're learning about the latest pushes by both sides.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:31:55]

SCIUTTO: Welcome back.

Ukraine may be attempting to expand its offensive inside Russia and not just in the Kursk region where this began. The Kremlin says it has repelled a new attempt by Ukrainian forces to cross into the region of Bryansk.

CNN's Salma Abdelaziz reports on Kyiv's latest maneuvers and where Russia is making its own advances.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Jim, parents are hiding their children to avoid mandatory evacuation orders in eastern Ukraine, particularly in the city of Pokrovsk. That is a place where Ukrainian officials say that Russian troops are advancing more quickly than they expected. Ukrainian officials have given residents there only two weeks to evacuate their homes. Already, people are leaving daily.

This advanced comes, of course, as Ukraine continues its own push into Russian territory in the area of Kursk where a surprise offensive was launched just two weeks ago.

But, of course, that element of surprise is now gone. Russian forces have very much been able to reconfigure themselves. And Ukrainian forces now saying they are facing tough resistance in Kursk, that Russian troops are not surrendering in the same manner that they were at the beginning of this assault.

Russia is also accusing Ukraine of expanding its offensive there, saying that Ukrainian forces tried to push into the neighboring province of Bryansk. Ukraine has yet to comment on that. Russia says it repelled this attack, but we do also know that there was cross attacks into Russia via drone, a military airfield in Volgograd was struck by Ukrainian drones. There's footage that shows smoke billowing over that airfield after the assault.

And important to remember here, of course, these drones go both ways. It is for tat Russia firing dozens of drones on Kyiv as well.

And as Russia determines its priorities along that frontline Ukrainian forces are trying to respond. They fear that the push into eastern Ukraine by Moscow its an attempt to pull away the attention from that push in Kursk, where Ukrainian forces continue to say they are taking out Russia's war machine -- Jim.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Thanks to Salma Abdelaziz.

Joining me now for more analysis, is former NATO supreme allied commander for Europe, founder as well of Renew America Together, retired General Wesley Clark.

Thanks so much for taking the time.

GEN. WESLEY CLARK (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Thank you, Jim.

SCIUTTO: This Ukrainian incursion has certainly caught Russia off- guard. They've shown enormous capabilities. They've required Russia to divert forces from elsewhere on the front, but I wonder in your view, are there risks for Ukraine in this? And do the -- does the value of this offensive outweigh those risks?

CLARK: Well, there are certainly risks. They under risk chart that you've taken your critical reserve brigades that were the most prepared, the best equipped and you thrown them into an offensive operation.

[15:35:01]

The question has always been -- what's the objective of this? If the objective is to push deep enough to shape and take out, let's say, the rail network or gut to critical logistics infrastructures that would combobulate the Russian offensive elsewhere -- great.

If it's just a political gesture to draw attention, show that Ukraine got fighting ability, then you got to be very careful with those forces. You don't want to lose them because this is your principal reserve force. So that's the risk.

And meanwhile, all we heard just a moment ago, Russian forces have their own offensive starting to roll in Donbas against the critical location across, 40,000 people, they're going to be tough to evacuate.

SCIUTTO: So, will we -- how will we know I guess? I mean, we'll know over time, but will you get a sense of the broader objective by how long Ukrainian forces stay and how far they push into Russia?

CLARK: Yes, that's part of it, Jim. The longer they stay and the greater staying power, then the more Russia presumably has to react against them and the more Russia has to react against them, then presumably it takes away from the offensive that Russia is waging in Donbas. But its too soon to really evaluate this.

As a strategic military operation, it lacks the weight to be able to really go in behind the mass of the Russian forces. But it's certainly operationally significant. It certainly diverts attention and it has a big geopolitical impact. Hopefully, China's watching. China's thinking about this saying, well, maybe Taiwan is not going to be that easy. These Ukrainians have a lot of fight.

It also has an impact on the United States. It makes us question, why don't we give them the ATACMS? Why can't they go further? These Ukrainians are willing to fight.

We've always said, if people were willing to fight for their freedom and democracy, we would support them, can't we do more?

So, there's political ramifications here beyond the military.

SCIUTTO: If I could turn just for a moment before we go on the status of Israel's war in Gaza, in your view, where do Israel's war aims stand? Because going in, the Israeli prime minister said the aim was to destroy Hamas.

It's not clear they've been successful in that, many Hamas fighters remain. And there seems to be disagreement now among Israeli officials themselves over whether it needs to maintain an Israeli military presence in Gaza along the Egyptian border after any ceasefire agreement.

I wonder who you think is right?

CLARK: I think it's more of a political question than it is a military question, Jim. I really do. I think it's going to be very hard for the Israeli military to provide security around Gaza if they don't control access from Egypt because what they found in this operation is despite what the Egyptian said, there were lots of tunnels and there was lots of stuff coming in. So that's a military side of it.

But I always thought that Israel and under Bibi Netanyahu, they've been -- their primary concern is Iranian nuclear capacity and we've seen are published intelligence estimates, say the Iranians are very, very close to getting nuclear weapons. When they do, I think things change in the region.

So maybe for Israel's military purposes, maybe there are some who would say, let's finish off Hezbollah right now. Let's go after Iran right now.

And so, this would be a political decision inside the Israeli government. And it would be connected to how the United States would respond and Iran, right now, clearly doesn't want to retaliate against Israel because it gives Israel the opening to do exactly what some in the Israeli government wants to do, which is take out Iran's nuclear capacity.

SCIUTTO: And which might very well draw the U.S. into -- into that war.

Wesley Clark, good to have you on. Thanks so much.

CLARK: Thank you, Jim.

SCIUTTO: Just after the break, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont, he will join us. He introduced his states delegation at the DNC.

Joining us from Chicago on the convention, and what he's hoping to hear from Kamala Harris's speech tonight.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:42:58]

SCIUTTO: Welcome back. We are just hours away from the historic moment when Vice President Kamala Harris will formally accept the Democratic Party's nomination for president. The first woman of color to do so.

Here is a look back at memorable moments from the past eight decades of Democratic National Conventions.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: What is the job before us in 1944? First, to win the war. To win it fast, but when it overwhelming.

JOHN F. KENNEDY, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: The new frontier of which I speak is not a set of promises. It is a set of challenges. It's summed, not what I intend to offer to the American people, but what I intend to ask them. A new frontier is here, whether we seek it or not.

JIMMY CARTER, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: Our country's lived through a time of torment. It's now time for healing. We want to have faith again. We want to be proud again. We just want the truth again.

FORMER SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA): I'm John Kerry and I'm reporting for duty.

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: I stand before you tonight because all across America, something is stirring. What the naysayers don't understand is that this election has never been about me. It's about you.

HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: Tonight, we've reached a milestone in our nation's march toward a more perfect union. The first time that I made your party has nominated a woman for president.

Standing here as my mother's daughter and my daughter's mother, I'm so happy this day has come.

BILL CLINTON, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: I end tonight where it all began for me: I still believe in a place called hope.

[15:45:01]

God bless you and God bless America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Of course, some of those messages proved to be winning ones. Others did not. My next guest made the trip from the Constitution State to Chicago. He took to the DNC floor on Tuesday to cast his state delegates' votes for Kamala Harris. There is on the floor.

Joining me now is Connecticut's Democratic Governor Ned Lamont.

Governor, thanks so much for taking the time tonight.

GOV. NED LAMONT (D), CONNECTICUT: Jim, good to see you.

SCIUTTO: It's been an electric week at the DNC, no question. But polls show that a large portion of the voting public doesn't quite know yet what she stands for. So I wonder, what are you hoping to hear from Harris tonight to speak, not just to those already excited about her, but those who haven't made up their mind yet?

LAMONT: I'll tell you one thing. Listening to your anthology of going back many conventions, I've been to many of those. I've never seen a convention as upbeat, and optimistic and unified as this one. Perhaps Obama in '08 was right there as well.

You know, day one was the "thank you, Joe Biden" for everything you've done.

Day two, I think they took the battle to Donald Trump. He's not one of us.

Day three was a biography where you gotten a better sense of Tim Walz, a better sense of Kamala Harris. Their middle class upbringing, what they mean, they're like you.

And I think what you're going to see tonight is Kamala Harris really showing who she is, probably a little bit about her upbringing, so we get a better sense of her as a person. And I think she'll hit hard on some of the issues like you said, I think what -- Biden was the infrastructure. She'll be the housing and make that an enormous addition.

SCIUTTO: You've worked with the vice presidential candidate, Governor Walz, part of the Democratic Governors Association. You called him a good partner, an outstanding choice in your view for vice president.

I wonder, what does he bring to this ticket in your view? Does he make it stronger? What kind of voters does he bring in?

LAMONT: Look, from a governor's point of view, we are delighted. Tim is going to be there. Somebody who knows what it is to operate a state, the relationship between state and federal governments, somebody we can talk to.

And I'll just be blunt about it, Jim -- you know, we love the guy. He's got that touch. He had life before politics. I greatly appreciate where he's coming from there.

SCIUTTO: As you know, I'm speaking to you tonight from Tel Aviv where I'm covering events here. And as you know, the DNC has not extended an invitation to a speaker from the uncommitted movement that is there at the convention. They've been outside, they've been organizing in protests regarding the administration's handling of Israel and the war here.

Do you believe that was a mistake, and how does then the president or the vice president who wants to be president speak to those voters tonight?

LAMONT: I think speak directly about where we are, where we're going. I think you heard Joe Biden on the very first night. He said, we are very close to a ceasefire. I strongly support that ceasefire. I want to end the death going on in Gaza right now, and I want to return the hostages. I think were that close.

I think that's the message or here. You've got to engage. Same when it comes to Ukraine. You've got to engage there, make sure that Ukraine has the ability to fight for their freedom as well.

You know, J.D. Vance says, I don't care what happens in Ukraine. I do.

SCIUTTO: Before we go as well, your state, as you know, better than anybody, going through an official state of emergency right now, historic flooding. I wonder if you could give us an update there, how you managed your role there at the convention with all that's going on back home?

LAMONT: So National Weather Service, a lot of their alerts make everything sound like a disaster. This was a frigging disaster. We had more rain in 24 hours that we've ever had. The rivers overflowed, they destroyed bridges.

You know, I was there on the ground. We got the federal emergency declaration. We're quantifying what that damage is and I'm here now at the convention where I have a chance to meet with my fellow governors and a lot of other meetings along the way.

I'll be back very soon.

SCIUTTO: Back to the convention just before I let you go, there are a lot of rumors about a surprise star appearance tonight. Are those rumors founded on anything?

LAMONT: Yeah. I've got to say, I've heard a lot of the same rumors and people are waiting with bated breath.

I think we're waiting in particular to hear Kamala Harris and hear her story.

SCIUTTO: All right. Well, we'll make sure to tune in.

Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont, thanks so much for joining us.

[15:50:01]

LAMONT: Good to see you, Jim. Thank you.

SCIUTTO: Well, coming up, some Democratic star power, night three of the DNC featured some very famous faces. What we know about who is making appearances to that question I just asked as the event wraps up tonight.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCIUTTO: Well, at the DNC, Hollywood stars have rolled out the red carpet in support of Kamala Harris. Tonight, the Chicks are set to perform the national anthem for the final night of the convention. That after a number of surprise sets through the week from rapper Lil Jon having the whole arena dancing during Georgia's roll call. You probably remember that moment to John Lennon, and Sheila E's Prince tribute, Stevie Wonder encouraging Democrats to reach a higher ground.

And then there was the woman who needs no introduction, Oprah. She brought the crowd to their feet with a powerful and a rare endorsement for her. Oprah, an independent voter, urged people to set aside, party alliances, and quote, choose joy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OPRAH WINFREY, CELEBRITY TV HOST: Let's choose honor. And let us choose Joy! Let's all choose Kamala Harris!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: She's pretty good at those.

Lisa Respers France has been tracking the stardom at the DNC.

Lisa, I wonder, for voters and viewers of the DNC, how significant was Oprah's endorsement last night?

LISA RESPERS FRANCE, CNN REPORTER: Majorly significant. Once we get to the period, Jim, where you only have to go by one name, everyone knows who you are, you're a massive star. There probably is no other woman that's more successful and more popular than Oprah Winfrey.

And we will remember how in 2008, she made a huge difference in being able to get Barack Obama into the White House. And so, people have their fingers crossed that she's going to be able to work that same magic for VP Harris.

The interesting thing is though, of course, she no longer has her TV show. So in 2008, she was still on TV with her very popular daytime talk show. But in some ways, this is even more impressive, because Oprah has kind of stepped away from politics in a lot of ways.

And so for her to feel the need to step back and be on the stage the way she was last night, so emphatic, so energetic, so excited.

[15:55:07]

And she really speaks across the spectrum to all people. I mean, once again, like I said, once you can go by there's a single name, everybody -- if you say Oprah, everybody knows exactly who you're talking to. So -- or talking about. So it's very important.

SCIUTTO: Yeah, no question. She's got a following.

Before we go, as you know, rumors are swirling -- do you have any intel on whether perhaps Beyonce could be the big surprise tonight?

FRANCE: Jim, I knew you were going to do this to me. Trust me if I knew, I would be here to break it. I am as excited to watch and see if this happens or not.

I feel like right now, the Beehive his manifesting this as we speak, I feel like all across the world, Beyonce's people, all her fans, they're like, you got to do it, you got to do it.

We'll just have to wait and see. I'm hearing the same thing you're hearing. I cannot confirm it for you. If I could, Jim, I promise you, I would tell you.

SCIUTTO: Yeah. Yeah. There's nothing like a good little surprise tease, right, to get folks to turn their television sets on.

Lisa Respers France, thanks so much for joining.

FRANCE: Thank you.

And do tune in for our live coverage of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, starting at 6:00 p.m. Chicago Time, 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time, right here on CNN.

And thanks so much to all of you for joining me today. I'm Jim Sciutto reporting from Tel Aviv.

Our coverage of the Democratic National Convention continues next.