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U.S. Presidential Candidates Focus on Campaigning; Harris Campaign Seeks Support from RFK Jr. Voters; Trump Held Rallies in Nevada and Arizona; Israel-Hamas Ceasefire Talks "Moving Forward"; Russia Taking Pressure from Ukraine; Harris Releases New Ads; Political Donations to Trump Fund His Businesses; U.S. Stocks Rise as Rate Cuts Loom; Final Body Discovered in Sicily Yacht Sinking; Tropical Storm Shanshan Moves toward Japan. Aired 4-5a ET

Aired August 24, 2024 - 04:00   ET

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

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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Welcome to all you watching us here in the United States, Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM.

U.S. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump picks up what could be a significant endorsement from a former rival while Vice President Kamala Harris turns her attention from the Democratic National Convention to debate preparations.

The U.S. expressing optimism amid the latest push to get a ceasefire deal done between Israel and Hamas. But tensions remain high in the Middle East. We will have the latest live from Tel Aviv.

And a long awaited U.S. interest rate cut now appears likely. Why the Federal Reserve is ready to shift its strategy on inflation.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from Atlanta this is CNN NEWSROOM with Kim Brunhuber.

BRUNHUBER: Their conventions behind them, it's now full speed ahead for both campaigns until Election Day. This past week, the DNC scored great ratings and raised tens of millions of dollars for Democrats. Now Vice President Kamala Harris has to turn that money and momentum into votes. We will have more on that in a moment.

Meanwhile, rival Donald Trump held rallies in two swing states Friday, Nevada and Arizona. That's where he was joined by independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who announced earlier in the day that he was suspending his campaign and endorsing Trump.

During their joint appearance, Trump celebrated Kennedy's position on issues and his family background. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: His candidacy has inspired millions and millions of Americans, raised critical issues that have been too long ignored in this country.

And brought together people from across the political spectrum in a positive campaign grounded in the American values of his father, Robert Kennedy, a great man, and his uncle, president John F. Kennedy. And I know that they are looking down right now and they are very, very proud of Bobby.

I'm proud of Bobby, you want to know the truth.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Now most members of Kennedy's family have condemned his candidacy but Trump's team hopes his voters could provide a crucial edge if races are close and decided by a few thousand ballots, which is exactly what happened in 2020.

CNN's Kristen Holmes reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Former president Donald Trump speaking at a rally in Glendale, Arizona, just outside of Phoenix, talked for roughly more than an hour. But the most notable part of his traditional (INAUDIBLE) his campaign endorsed Donald Trump earlier in day.

We spoke about why it was that he was backing the former president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR. (I-OK), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The best way to build a safe America is to rebuild our industrial base and rebuild the middle class in this country.

And don't you want a president who's going to get us out of the wars and who's going to rebuild the middle class in this country?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now this endorsement came after weeks of high-level conversations which Trump received and RFK orbit namely spearheading this on Donald Trump's side, was done here in Wisconsin. And Tucker Carlson believed that (INAUDIBLE) RFK on board with Donald Trump.

There wasn't a sense of urgency in getting this endorsement particularly as Kamala Harris ascended to the top of the ticket. They did believe that most of the votes RFK was going to siphon off the candidates were going to come from Donald Trump, not Kamala Harris.

Now I just want to give you a little bit of insight to what they think is moving forward. Obviously we do not know where our CNN reporters are going to go with a lock but they look at polling like here in Arizona that show that RFK was polling at roughly 6 percent. In that same "The New York Times" poll, we saw Donald Trump at 42

percent and Kamala Harris at 45 percent. They believe they can get just a little bit of that 6 percent back could make the difference in the election in November which they believe will be decided by a razor thin margin -- Kristen Holmes, CNN, Arizona.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Now the Harris campaign is hoping to gain some of its own support from would-be Kennedy voters, releasing a statement saying, quote.

[04:05:00]

"For any American out there who is tired of Donald Trump and looking for a new way forward, ours is a campaign for you."

So as the glow from the DNC begins to fade, Harris is now turning her attention to the upcoming debate with Trump set to take place on September 10th. And she's making it clear she knows there's a lot of work still to do. Here she is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION: What's next?

KAMALA HARRIS (D), VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're going to walk up those stairs.

QUESTION: No, after that?

HARRIS: Win. We're going to win.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Now from several points of view, there's no question that the Democratic convention was successful. Nielsen says the last night of the DNC drew in more than 26 million TV viewers, peaking at nearly 29 million while Harris was speaking.

The fundraising platform ActBlue says it raised more than $7 million during her remarks and over $100 million during the week.

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BRUNHUBER: All right.

I want to bring in Thomas Gift, who's the director of the Centre on U.S. Politics at University College London. And he joins us from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Thanks so much for being on with us again, Thomas. So I want to start with the new wrinkle to the race. RFK Jr. supporting Trump, the Harris camp is kind of downplaying the effect, as you'd expect.

What effect do you think it might have on the campaign? THOMAS GIFT, UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON: Well, it's great to be with you, Kim, thanks so much for having me.

Trump at various points has called RFK Jr. a Democratic plant, a liberal lunatic and the dumbest member of the Kennedy family. But it was really a love fest between them last night at this event in Arizona.

Still, it's unclear to me that Kennedy is dropping out is going to have a huge impact on the race. I think different polls seem to disagree about whether Kennedy was siphoning off more votes from Harris or Trump.

And there's also some evidence that Kennedy backers are less likely to vote overall. Plus, I think Kennedy's poll numbers have really dropped in recent months. Earlier this year, some polls had him at around 15 percent or so. More recent numbers seem like 5 percent to 6 percent.

There something to be said about breaking up the two two-party monopoly but you would have thought that, this year of any year, a third-party candidate would have been able to break through.

But RFK Jr. really didn't gain momentum. There was no third party candidate from No Labels. I'm not sure that this is going to have a huge impact on the race at this point.

BRUNHUBER: All right, we shall see. Meanwhile, Harris is coasting on the wave from the DNC.

So the question everyone is asking is, how does she capitalize on the momentum here and translate all this enthusiasm and energy into actual political gain?

GIFT: Yes, no, that's a really good question because these conventions are essentially political infomercials for parties. They're pep rallies and obviously Democrats are hugely enthusiastic coming out of the last week. They are energized.

That's words that really haven't been used a whole lot to describe Democrats while Joe Biden was still the nominee. I think the big question now is how Harris is going to respond in some more unscripted setting.

She's been criticized by Republicans for not doing any press conferences. She's been criticized for not doing any sitdown Q&As with journalists. Eventually, she's going to have to get more specific.

And I think that that time it's now. Her honeymoon is really coming to an end. And this is where things get real for Harris.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, and certainly the debate will be one of those unscripted moments that we're all waiting for. One of the ways that this enthusiasm might translate is donor enthusiasm.

And earlier, I ran through some of the numbers; the latest fundraising numbers suggest that Harris entering the race has largely erased Donald Trump's money advantage over the Democrats.

What kind of impact do you think that'll have on the race?

GIFT: No, absolutely. I mean, money and donations is huge. I'm in Pennsylvania right now and I can't turn on the television without seeing a Kamala Harris ad or a Donald Trump ad.

To some extent, I think that this money is just canceling each other out, just seeing so much negativity. But you have to raise money in order to do so, in order to keep pace with your opponent.

Once Kamala Harris took the torch from Biden, there's a whole lot of pent-up supply from would-be donors that flowed into her campaign. She set some single day records, which has been huge.

So that's going to be important whenever you need to compete in five, six, seven battleground states. You need to be armed with a significant war chest.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, absolutely.

And one of the issues that may decide some of these battleground states is the issue of abortion rights. It was one of the major themes at the DNC.

And clearly, Democrats believe this will be a strong issue for them. And Donald Trump seemingly knows this could hurt him. He posted yesterday on Truth Social, quote, "My administration will be great for women and their reproductive rights."

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And yesterday, he said this, have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I'm very strong on women's reproductive rights, the IVF very strong. I mean, we're leaders in it and I think people are seeing that and votes are being taken.

And that's what they've wanted for years, for 52 years they wanted votes to be taken by the states. And they wanted Roe v. Wade to be brought into the states. And it's really happening.

It's really happening.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: All right, so some of the gaslighting aside, do you do you see Trump trying to pivot to the center on this issue?

GIFT: Well, I think he's going to try and, in large part, that's because he realizes that this is an issue that has huge resonance with Democratic voters and particularly moderates, both on the political right and the political left. In 2022, Democrats overperformed. There was no red wave. I think that

that was in large part because of the abortion issue that Democrats were able to capitalize on.

Same story when it came to all of these state referenda. So Trump is in somewhat of a difficult position because he needs to court the evangelical base. He needs to make sure that he's appealing to Republicans, Christian Republicans.

But at the same time, he is looking at the same polling data that everyone else is looking at. And they say abortion is a big issue. And right now, it's certainly helping Democrats.

BRUNHUBER: All right, we'll have to leave it there but always appreciate speaking with you. Thomas Gift. Thank you so much.

GIFT: Thank you, Kim.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Several members of the U.S. Secret Service have been reassigned after the attempted assassination on Donald Trump. Sources tell CNN those involved were from the Pittsburgh field office. One member of Donald Trump's own security detail was also pulled off duty.

They've all been reassigned to administrative duties and ordered to work from home. The Secret Service has been criticized for failing to stop a gunman from firing at the former president and killing one bystander. Despite July's security failure, Trump said he has, quote, "great confidence" in the Secret Service.

Trump also said he believes the Secret Service will make improvements.

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BRUNHUBER: Tensions are running high in the Middle East as Gaza ceasefire talks are expected to continue over the weekend. The Israeli military says more than 150 projectiles were launched toward Israel from its northern and southern borders on Friday.

The vast majority of the launches came from Lebanon. It marks one of the fiercest days of cross-border fighting in recent weeks. Now launches happened the same day ceasefire negotiators met in Cairo. Those talks are expected to resume on Sunday, following reports of progress made on Friday.

Israel offered a new proposal about the plan for its troops along Gaza's southern border with Egypt. Meanwhile, the White House says the talks were constructive and are moving forward. U.S. President Joe Biden spoke with Egyptian and Qatari leaders trying to close the remaining gaps.

I want to go live now to Tel Aviv and CNN's Nic Robertson.

Where do things stand right now in terms of the ceasefire negotiations? NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: President Biden thanked both the Qatari emir and the president of Egypt for their help and support. And again, stressed the need to get the deal done now.

But why is he talking to them, why is he having this conversation on the eve of the talks?

And principally because, they're the mediators -- excuse me -- they have the biggest direct contact and therefore potential influence over Hamas.

And Hamas is the big question right now. There are a lot of things on paper with this deal that they have the bridging proposal as a whole that the U.S. put forward last week that they have yet to publicly say where they stand.

So a lot of pressure there. And principally, in part as well, following up on this, what appears to be some forward movement on Israel's position on the number of troops that it's willing to have along the so-called Philadelphi corridor, that 8.5 mile, 14 kilometer border between Gaza and Egypt.

And Egypt, of course, a key -- a key mediator on that because it's their border as well. And they have seen maps that Israel has proposed before, showing the troop dispensation on the border. And they've rejected them and said that they weren't worth passing on to Hamas because they don't represent a change in position.

But the Egyptians believe that this new mapping, a new proposal by Israel, was enough to make it worthwhile giving to Hamas.

So question mark, will Hamas accept that?

Because Hamas has made very clear they don't want any Israeli troops inside of Gaza for a ceasefire, for a permanent cease-fire. But I think that underscores another deep point of difference here. And this is something that we were hearing from U.S. officials yesterday.

[04:15:02]

Really sort of drawing attention to the fact that perhaps the best that will come out of this won't be a long three-phase process that will ultimately bring to a -- bring a complete ceasefire and a humanitarian restoration to Gaza.

It might just be six weeks of calm. That's what John Kirby at the White House said yesterday, that really because prime minister Netanyahu has indicated that he is willing to go for a pause right now, willing to go for a temporary ceasefire, willing to get some of the hostages back.

But it says absolutely, our aim is to destroy Hamas. And after those six weeks, we would go back to war. That is something he said -- he said within the past couple of months.

So the White House is sort of lowering expectations here on the outcome a little. And while they're lowering the expectations that this might look more like a six-week deal with a temporary ceasefire, because that's the best that can be achieved, we don't even know if Hamas will go for that temporary version of what they want.

Previously, they demanded a complete cessation of hostilities, a complete end to the war. I think there's a -- Hamas understand that's not really on the table at the moment. But again, we don't know if they're going to buy into it and all that's going to play out over the weekend, of course.

BRUNHUBER: All right, appreciate that. Nic Robertson in Tel Aviv. Thank you so much.

All right.

Turning to Solingen, Germany, where special police forces are on the hunt for a male suspect in a deadly stabbing attack. It happened at a music festival on Friday. Police say three people were killed and eight others were injured, five of them seriously.

Authorities have backed away from an initial assessment that said it was terror-related. They say the knife attack was deliberate and they're asking the public for help.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): But of course, we have not been informed of any motives. We are, of course, still in urgent need of witnesses. Videos, photos, we will take anything.

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BRUNHUBER: Ukraine's president has a message for Russia in his video address on the country's Independence Day.

Still ahead, you'll hear his version of, "you reap what you sow," as a lesson from Moscow.

Plus the U.S. Fed chair is hinting that interest rates could soon be cut and we'll explosion how that can happen as soon as next month. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: Ukraine is marking its Independence Day right now, celebrating 33 years since it became a sovereign nation.

Now the holiday comes a day after U.S. President Joe Biden spoke with his Ukrainian counterpart, announcing $125 million in new military aid. The U.S. is also imposing new sanctions on about 400 people and entities worldwide that are allegedly helping Russia's war machine.

Now this is happening as Russia's president Vladimir Putin suffers the humiliation of Kyiv's cross-border incursion, now underway for more than two weeks. Since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion, he's labeled Ukraine a Western puppet, which is embroiled in an existential struggle with Russia and must be, in his words, denazified.

But our next guest believes the Ukrainian incursion has deflated all those claims by Putin. We're joined by Alexey Kovalev, an independent Russian journalist, who has left the country. And we can't disclose his location for security reasons.

Thanks so much for being here with us. So it is a bit curious that Putin's response to this incursion has been to downplay it. He hasn't said much publicly the first time. His country has been invaded since World War II and he decides to go on routine trips to Azerbaijan and Chechnya.

It seems a bit odd, doesn't it?

ALEXEY KOVALEV, INDEPENDENT RUSSIAN JOURNALIST: Well, hello and thank you for having me.

It only seems odd to you if haven't been following Russian news on a daily basis for a few years. And it's a pretty standard move for him to distance himself from any crisis, to delegate it to his underlings and just pretend that everything is fine. And then he can he can go on and carry on with his daily duty.

So to bring this analogy closer to home, imagine a Pearl Harbor where, instead of mobilizing the nation and then declaring the war, FDR says, let the government -- let the governor of Hawaii deal with it. And then goes on, goes on to open the Minnesota State Fair, something like this.

This is what's happening now. And if you look at the Kremlin's official website where they announced the present sentence (ph), it doesn't seem like anything at all is going on. And even if you open one of the news releases about his consultations with his security council, you would really have no idea what's going on in Russia.

Because it's all about some kind of -- it's a security situation; it's a counter terrorist operations. It doesn't mention what -- doesn't really mention what is going on, where, in fact, it is the first legitimate invasion of a foreign army onto internationally recognized Russian territory since June 1941.

Although, of course, then Russia didn't exist; it was the Soviet Union. But the Russian soil was invaded. And so it is now. But instead of dealing with it, Putin just says, OK, it's not really a -- it's not a big thing, really. I'm just going to go and meet some other leaders and talk about whatever.

But please don't -- please don't connect this to me. Please don't make it seem that it's a crisis of my own making. BRUNHUBER: Yes. Well, that's why your analogy to Pearl Harbor

underlines why it seems so odd from the outside. Now broadening this out, I mean, we saw the other day in Russia a huge concert for flag day in Moscow.

There were huge crowds and it was headlined by one of Russia's most prominent pro-war singers, Shaman, who said he wanted to use the concert to send a wartime message of victory, which obviously resonated with the crowd. I want to play you some clips here.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANGELIKA SMIRNOVA, BEAUTICIAN (through translator): They are very soulful. We love our country, we love our president. Vladimir Vladimirovich, and Shaman connects everyone, our whole country. Moscow, all our new territories, which we all love.

DNR, LNR, we adore them.

YULIA DEVKINA, ART TEACHER (through translator): Certainly today's concert is support, not only for the residents of the Kursk region but for every resident of our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

For our viewers, DNR, LNR meaning the occupied regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.

So I want to ask how, how much space is the war occupying in Russian popular culture these days?

KOVALEV: Well, it's definitely, there's definitely been an attempt to replace every form of news and entertainment with -- from these related to Worley (ph). Basically the Kremlin is trying to make it a people, a really -- really a people's war.

So Russians on a daily basis, they are inundated with these analogies with a Second World War, where it's hard to -- it's hard to explain if you've never encountered it. But we've, from the earliest age, Russians are inundated with the history of the Soviet Union and the Second World War, which is called the great patriotic war in Russia.

That the - -like it's been building up to this point that everyone in the face of an invasion, of a foreign invasion, everyone must mobilize. But it doesn't -- it's not really happening.

Because if you look at the TV ratings, the propaganda, talk shows are dropping in popularity, where people are actually seeking out just regular mild entertainment, just comedy and popular series, not the endless war imagery.

And it's just, it doesn't seem like -- look, it's been going on for almost three weeks now, a foreign invasion on Russia soil. There is like, I'm not seeing any kind of wave of patriotic fervor sweeping over Russia.

People, you know, people are actually queuing to volunteer, to enlist in office to offices to volunteer to fight off an invasion on the country. And everybody just seems to be just shrugging it off really. It's really, it's really bizarre.

I mean, there's no other way to describe it because that's the way. It's because it's hard to -- it's been a national policy of demobilizing people, of convincing them that they shouldn't be involved in anything, that they should mind their own business.

And the government will -- and the Kremlin will take care of the rest. And now, when they actually need people to mobilize, to defend over an invasion, it's not happening.

Because people are, well, if Putin is not -- if it's not such a big deal for Putin, who think it's more important to go to Azerbaijan and to open an agricultural (INAUDIBLE), why should we care?

So I think that that is the logic here.

BRUNHUBER: Yes. Listen, we'll have to leave it there but it's been fascinating to get your insights into all this, Alexey Kovalev, thank you so much.

KOVALEV: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Meanwhile, Polish president Andrzej Duda is now in Ukraine to take part in the events marking the Independence Day.

This video shows him arriving in Kyiv earlier, where he was greeted by Ukrainian officials. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has released a video address for the holiday. He hailed Ukraine's efforts to defend and against Russia and praised the cross-border offensive in the Kursk region.

He said, quote, "Whoever seeks to sow evil on our land will reap its fruits on their own territory."

Well, running for public office can be an expensive proposition. And Donald Trump's various businesses have been raking in the millions from a host of Republican campaigns, including his own. We'll have a look at where the money is coming from next. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all you watching us here in the United States, Canada and around the world, I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM.

Returning now to our top story, the 2024 battle for the White House now in full swing. Former Democrat turned independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has suspended his campaign and endorsed Republican Donald Trump. The two men appeared at a rally Friday night in Arizona.

Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris is basking in the glow of a successful convention and turning her focus to the upcoming debate with Trump in September. Her campaign also released a new ad focused on the economy.

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HARRIS (voice-over): Here's a few things I believe:

Middle-class families, like the one I grew up in, they want common sense solutions. You want lower prices and lower taxes. I believe you want to just not get by but you want to get ahead.

We must create an opportunity economy, where everyone has a chance to get a car loan, buy a home, start a business. But most of all, that instead of being --

(CROSSTALK)

BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Floating a full political ad.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Now earlier Friday, her Republican rival campaign in Las Vegas, he avoided explaining how he would pay for his proposed tax cuts, only boasted about the strength of the economy while he was in office. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: The growth, we will have tremendous growth --

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: No, you remember when I gave the largest tax cuts ever given, we had a much lower rate. But the following year, we took in more income. With a lower rate we took in more income. And companies like Apple and others were bringing money in from Europe and other places.

They were bringing in billions of dollars that they would have never brought in except for what I did.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Now one term in office and now three presidential races that made Donald Trump the force to be reckoned with in the Republican Party. But his time in politics has also had a major impact on Trump's bottom line, as political allies and Trump's own campaign poured millions into his many businesses.

Our Kyung Lah looks at how the past eight years have filled Trump's pockets.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TRUMP: My new book, "Save America," published by Winning Team Publishing, is now available for order.

KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In all the ways you already know, former President Trump publicly makes money selling books and Bibles.

TRUMP: God bless the USA Bible.

LAH (voice-over): Gold Sneakers.

TRUMP: That's the real deal.

LAH (voice-over): And trading cards.

TRUMP: It's called the America First Collection.

[04:35:00]

LAH (voice-over): It's at Trump properties like Mar-a-Lago, Trump's opulent Florida home, where Republican campaign are pouring into Trump's own pocket.

More than 150 congressional candidates and political groups have spent millions at Trump properties and associated businesses, according to a CNN analysis of federal campaign finance data, with 2024 on track to be the biggest year of spending since 2016. The vast majority of the candidates are Republican and most endorsed by Trump.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A vote for Trump and Moreno is a vote to put America first.

LAH (voice-over): A clear example is Ohio businessman Bernie Moreno, a political novice who made his fortune selling luxury cars. The same month Moreno announced his run for the U.S. Senate last year, he spent $13,000 on event catering at Trump's Mar-a-Lago.

The same day one of the payments was made, Trump posted on Truth Social, "Moreno is a highly respected businessman who was thinking of running for the Senate." Trump endorsed Moreno months later, calling him a MAGA fighter.

Two days after the endorsement, Moreno spent $17,000 at Mar-a-Lago. And a month later, $80,000 more on a fundraiser at the private club attended by some in Trump's inner circle.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We asked him to come here to Florida, so we could bring him here to the president's home. So we could share him with you.

LAH (voice-over): Moreno is now locked in a competitive battle for Ohio's Senate seat with Trump by his side.

TRUMP: He's a hero. He's a winner.

KATHLEEN CLARK, LAW PROFESSOR, WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY IN St. LOUIS: That coincidence of this significant spending nearly coinciding with a Trump endorsement doesn't prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that there's been a bribe. That pattern does and should raise questions in the minds of voters about what's really going on here?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The incredible Kari Lake.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'll do everything in my power to make sure this man gets back in the White House. We need him now more than ever.

LAH (voice-over): Another Republican endorsed by Trump is also one of Mar-a-Lago's top political spenders. This year alone, Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake's campaign spent more than $100,000 on lodging, catering and facility rentals.

Other top spenders at Trump properties include retired football star and former Georgia Republican Senate candidate, Herschel Walker. His campaign spent the most of any congressional candidate in the last decade, nearly $215,000 at Mar-a-Lago. Trump's golf club in West Palm Beach and his Las Vegas hotel.

TRUMP: You know, Herschel's not only a Georgia hero, he is an American legend.

LAH (voice-over): Trump endorsed Walker, who would go on to lose his race. Political groups also drop big money at Trump's businesses.

The RNC spending more than $2 million since 2016. But at the top spot by far is Donald Trump himself, whose campaigns and associated political committees have funneled more than $28 million in political contributions to his businesses.

From renting his ballroom to his campaign, to using election donations to pay for his private jet, Trump Force One, Trump, the candidate, has been paying Trump the businessman.

DAN WEINER, BRENNAN CENTER FOR JUSTICE: It's not illegal. The law is that candidates can spend money at their own businesses, provided that the businesses provide real goods or services at a fair market rate. But it certainly raises at least an appearance of self-dealing that is very concerning from a corruption standpoint.

LAH (voice-over): In a statement, the Trump campaign told CNN, "These allegations are false," adding, "Committees are paying the fair market rate for all venues and services."

LAH: Spokespeople for Bernie Moreno and Herschel Walker did reply to our request for comment and they say that the Mar-a-Lago fundraisers were wildly successful. Walker adding that he and Trump have known each other for 40 years and his events had nothing to do with Trump's endorsement. We did reach out to the Kari Lake campaign but did not hear back. And

it is important to note that, despite the criticism you heard in our story, none of this is illegal -- Kyung Lah, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: The Dow Jones industrials closed strong Friday afternoon, gaining more than 460 points.

The S&P and Nasdaq also up. It was all in response to Fed chair Jerome Powell hinting during a speech that it was time to cut interest rates. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEROME POWELL, CHAIRMAN, FEDERAL RESERVE: Inflation is now much closer to our objective with prices having risen 2.5 percent over the past 12 months. After a pause earlier this year, progress toward our 2 percent objective has resumed.

My confidence has grown that inflation is on a sustainable path back to 2 percent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Jerome Powell made the remarks during a speech at a gathering of bankers and economists.

[04:40:02]

Now his comments gave hope to investors and the general public about the future of the economy. As CNN's Matt Egan explains, an interest rate cut could happen as soon as next month.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATT EGAN, CNN BUSINESS SENIOR WRITER: This is a big moment for the economy.

Remember, for the past two years, the Fed has been waging war on inflation. Monster-size interest rate hikes trying to get inflation back down and today, Jerome Powell, he all but declared victory in battle, saying he is more confident that inflation is going back to where it belongs, back to 2 percent.

And the mission, he's saying, has shifted. It shifted from fighting inflation to fighting unemployment.

And that means a different strategy. Instead of raising interest rates, the Fed is going to be cutting them. Take a listen to what Powell said at Jackson Hole.

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POWELL: The time has come for policy to adjust, the direction of travel is clear and the timing and pace of rate cuts will depend on incoming data, the evolving outlook and the balance of risks.

We will do everything we can to support a strong labor market as we make further progress toward price stability.

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EGAN: So Powell essentially just preannounced a rate cut at the next meeting in September. This would be the first interest rate cut since COVID. And it's in the final meeting before the election. Still a lot of debate over just how big of a cut this will be.

But another one of the big questions outstanding is whether or not they're going to be able to pull off a soft landing. And listen, Powell, he struck a cautiously optimistic tone on that front. He said that there's, quote, "good reason" to believe that the economy will get back to 2 percent while maintaining a strong jobs market.

So this would essentially be the soft landing that we've all been hoping for that for a long time, looked very unlikely. Powell said that they are not looking to see any more weakness in the jobs market.

And he suggested they're going to be prepared to come to the rescue. If they do see more weakness by cutting interest rates even further -- back to you.

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BRUNHUBER: All the victims of the sinking of a yacht in the waters off Sicily have now been accounted for but the investigation into the causes continues.

We'll have more, when we come back.

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BRUNHUBER: A seventh body has been recovered from the luxury yacht that sank in the Mediterranean off Italy's Sicilian coast. All who were aboard have now been accounted for. The latest being Hannah Lynch, the 18-year-old daughter of British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch, who also died in the incident.

Barbie Latza Nadeau joins us now, live from Rome.

So Barbie, what's the latest?

BARBIE NADEAU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, in listening to this press conference, this is the first official press conference that we've had regarding this disaster.

And the prosecuting magistrate, which is the person that it guides the investigation, has said the investigation is now into manslaughter and negligent shipwreck. That changes the dynamic a lot in terms of how they go forward with this investigation.

It puts a spotlight on the captain and the crew.

Now the questions being asked to the prosecutor are basically, are they going to arrest the captain and things like that?

They haven't -- they haven't confirmed that they will be doing that so far there but the fact that the investigation is now manslaughter really, really does change the dynamic of things.

They also said that they'll have to raise the wreck, which seems obvious in a situation like this. But it will be a multimillion dollar endeavor. And at the press conference, a prosecutor said that that cost will fall on the owner of the ship, which is the family of Mike Lynch.

And so that that they are expecting that to happen in the next couple of months, have got to secure it before they raise it and that they will only then be able to retrieve the version of the black box, which they said is inside that yacht, because it's just too dangerous for those divers to go down and try to retrieve that.

Going forward, this is now a manslaughter investigation into the deaths of these seven people.

BRUNHUBER: Appreciate that update. Barbie Latza Nadeau in Rome, thanks so much.

A grim forecast in Bangladesh where more heavy rain is expected in the coming days and that could make a dire situation even worse as catastrophic flooding has already devastated parts of the country.

Officials in Bangladesh say at least 36 people have been killed and nearly 4.5 million impacted by the flooding. More than 25,000 people are now filling government shelters but many more are still waiting to be rescued.

Some Bangladeshis blame neighboring India for the devastation, saying the government opened a dam, releasing the floodwaters. New Delhi has reportedly said the release was automatically triggered by extremely high water levels.

Some 27 Indian tourists were killed in Nepal when their bus left the road and plunged 150 meters into a riverbank below. The bus was en route from Pokhara to Nepal's capital, Kathmandu, with more than 40 people aboard.

A steep incline and fast flowing river made rescue and recovery efforts treacherous; 16 people were airlifted to Kathmandu and are currently undergoing treatment. The cause of the crash still isn't known.

Wildfires are spreading across Sao Paulo state in Brazil. At least two people who were trying to hold back the flames have died. Some 30 cities are being affected by the fast-moving flames that started in a sugar plantation. And so far the city of Sao Paulo has been spared. It's home to some 11 million people.

Still local media report smoke is blocking the city's skies and heavy winds are spreading the flames. The wildfires have come earlier than usual, impacting the Amazon rainforest.

A tropical storm warning has been issued for parts of Hawaii and strong winds will be particularly dangerous before the storm hits. We'll find out why when we come back, please stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: There are two storms strengthening in the Pacific; one, tropical storm Hone passing south of Hawaii with significant winds creating a fire hazard before the storm's arrival.

And another tropical storm, Shanshan is gathering in intensity and forecast to hit Japan's main island directly fleet as a typhoon.

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BRUNHUBER: We're going to learn more later today about the fate of two astronauts stuck on the International Space Station ever since their Boeing Starliner capsule malfunctioned. The U.S. space agency, NASA, will update plans to get Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams back to Earth.

They launched into space on June 5th. Their mission has now lasted some two months longer than originally planned. The delayed return is being blamed on helium leaks and thruster issues on the Starliner.

NASA has admitted the crew may have to wait until February and return home on a SpaceX capsule.

Well, next time you're hiking China's Great Wall and get a little hungry, you can call for takeout. Food delivery company Meituan has launched a drone delivery service, bringing food, drinks and even medical supplies to tourists.

The route covers a remote part of the wall that doesn't have commercial outlets. Workers launch orders from the roof of a hotel and then fly on autopilot to another worker. The company says it can deliver up to five pounds of whatever you may need in about five minutes.

Well, the Biebs and his bride of six years just had a baby. Hailey and Justin Bieber have announced the birth of their first child, a son. They shared the news on Instagram on Friday.

The pop star posted a picture of the baby's foot, as you can see there, and wrote, "Welcome home, Jack Blues Bieber." No other details were available. Hailey shared the photo online with a bear and blue heart emojis.

I'm Kim Brunhuber. I'll be back with more CNN NEWSROOM in a moment. Please do stay with us.