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CNN International: Israel, Hezbollah Pull Back After Intense Cross-Border Fire; White House Reports Progress In Gaza Ceasefire Talks; Russia Launches Large Drone And Missile Bombardment On Ukraine. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired August 26, 2024 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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RAHEL SOLOMON, HOST, "CNN NEWSROOM": Good morning or good evening, depending on where you're watching. I'm Rahel Solomon live in New York.
Ahead on CNN Newsroom, Israel and Hezbollah trade fire in a major flare-up of tensions in the region, heightening fears of an all-out war in the Middle East. We are live in Israel and Lebanon with the very latest. Plus, will he or won't he? Donald Trump questions whether it even makes sense for him to debate Kamala Harris. I'll discuss with my panel. And U.S. lawmakers investigating the attempt to assassinate Donald Trump, visit the scene of the shooting today. My guest is the ranking member of the House task force.
Well, we begin with a fallout from some of the most serious cross- border fire yet between Israel and Hezbollah. Now, both sides appear to have stepped back from further escalation, at least for now.
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Israel launched what it called preemptive strikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon over the weekend. The Israeli military says that 100 fighter jets destroyed, thousands of rocket launcher barrels across dozens of sites. The IDF adding that it removed a future threat, accusing Hezbollah preparing to fire on Israeli territory. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that the attacks are not the end.
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BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (Interpreted): The Israeli army destroyed thousands of short-range rockets, all of which were intended to harm our civilians and forces in the Galilee. Additionally, the Israeli army intercepted all of the drones that Hezbollah launched at a strategic target in central Israel.
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SOLOMON: Now, soon after the Israeli attacks, Hezbollah fired hundreds of rockets and drones toward Israel in retaliation for the assassination of a top Hezbollah commander last month. Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, calls it a quote, "complete success", but also suggested that further strikes could be coming.
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HASSAN NASRALLAH, HEZBOLLAH LEADER (Interpreted): The result is satisfactory and achieves the intended goal. And if the result is not enough, from our point of view, then we retain the right to respond another time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOLOMON: Now, the weekend attacks did not derail a new round of Gaza ceasefire talks in Cairo, The White House says that progress was made. However, there is still no final agreement between Israel and Hamas.
Let's get more now. We have team coverage for you. We have Jeremy Diamond, who is live in Haifa, Israel. We also have Ben Wedeman, who is live in Beirut.
Jeremy, let me start with you. I think the question is, is there a sense that both Israel and Hezbollah want to avoid an escalation?
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rahel, yesterday, within the space of just a few hours, we saw, on the one hand, one of the heaviest exchanges of fire between these two sides since the beginning of the war in October. And then, hours later, we saw both sides seeming to try and step off this ladder of escalation in which this region has been steadily climbing up over the course of the last month. Hezbollah yesterday firing hundreds of rockets and drones towards northern Israel. Air raid sirens sounding around 5:30 in the morning. But, the Israeli military says that none of those rockets actually hit any military bases in central or northern Israel.
The Israeli Prime Minister also saying that all of the drones that Hezbollah fired were successfully intercepted, and part of that, the Israeli military says, is because of what they call a preemptive strike that they carried out about an hour and a half before those Hezbollah rockets were fired into northern Israel, those strikes carried out by over 100 fighter jets simultaneously striking dozens of Hezbollah rocket launch sites in southern Lebanon, the Israeli military saying that that preemptive strike minimized and thwarted what would have been a much larger, much more significant attack from Hezbollah.
But, for now, both sides seem to be eager to claim victory. We heard that from Hassan Nasrallah, pointing to the success of the attack, although he did leave open the possibility that future assessments could lead to additional attacks against Israel, and the Israeli military and the Israeli government calling their strike and their air defense effort an unmitigated success, with the Israeli Defense Minister saying that he believes Hezbollah has been destabilized by that preemptive strike.
SOLOMON: Jeremy, we heard the White House say that progress has been made in these talks. But, how does this escalation impact any progress on those talks?
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DIAMOND: Well, so far, it doesn't seem to have impacted those talks, which is perhaps the most positive sign we can see in these negotiations yesterday.
Despite the fact that we started the day early in the morning with this very heavy exchange of fire between Israel and Hezbollah, the mediators, Hamas officials, Israeli officials, they were all in Cairo yesterday, engaged in these negotiations, although not in the same room as we haven't seen Israeli and Hamas officials actually in the same room. The question is, how much progress is actually being made? Because the meetings yesterday ended with the senior officials from each delegation leaving Cairo without any kind of deal in place, instead, leaving more work on the details of the implementation of a potential agreement to lower level officials who are continuing those talks in Cairo as we speak.
A U.S. official said that there was good progress over the weekend, but we also saw Hamas put out a statement yesterday in which they reiterated what they've been saying over the course of the last couple of weeks, which is that they want to see a deal based off of the previous framework agreement that was reached between the two sides in early July, one that would not include some of the Israeli demands that have subsequently been made, including one of the main sticking points, and that is whether Israeli troops will remain along that Philadelphi Corridor during the first phase of a ceasefire agreement. That's that strategic strip of land between the Israel-Gaza -- between the Gaza-Egypt border, I should say, and that remains a sticking point.
So, it's very hard to see, despite the claims of progress by U.S. officials, how quickly a deal could actually be put together, and whether these talks are actually going to lead to a deal at all. Rahel.
SOLOMON: Right. I mean, as you say, I mean, how much progress has been made. Jeremy Diamond live for us there in Haifa. Jeremy, thank you.
Now, let's get over to Ben Wedeman, who was live for us in Beirut. Ben, what more do we hear from Hezbollah's leader Hassan Nasrallah?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Rahel, what we heard was a very sort of satisfied speech in which he said what we planned, we achieved. He claimed that after the initial strikes on a string of Israeli military positions along the border that their either drones or missiles were able to hit the headquarters of Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency, Unit 8200, which is the signals intelligence unit of the Israeli military, as well as the headquarters for Israel's missile defense. Now, the Israelis are saying none of those projectiles hit their target.
So, we did hear Nasrallah say that, as we evaluate the results of our strikes, we will consider the possibility of retaliating further to the assassination on the 30th of July of Fuad Shukr, that senior Hezbollah commander. At the same time, he did send a message. He said, redressing the people of Lebanon after a month of being very much on edge, he said, you can take a breath and now relax. So, it does appear that Hezbollah has stepped back. It's significant that Israel focused its strikes along the border, a knot deep inside Lebanon, where Hezbollah is actually keeping its heavier weapons, its long-range precision missiles, which it did not apparently use in this yesterday morning strikes.
Having said all that, what we're seeing is a resumption of the daily back and forth of fire between Israel and Hezbollah, limited largely to the border area. So far today, we've counted five Israeli strikes on Lebanon. One of them appears to be a failed attempt to kill a local Hamas leader in the city of Sidon. In addition, there was a series of artillery barrages on three towns in the western sector. The problems remain. There are still hundreds -- more than 100,000 Lebanese civilians who have left their homes on this side of the border, more than 60,000 Israelis who have left their homes. The fighting continues. Everything hinges on a ceasefire in Gaza. Hezbollah has made it clear that if the war in Gaza stops, Hezbollah will stop firing on Israel. Rahel.
SOLOMON: This gives you a sense of just sort of how much is at stake in terms of these talks. Ben Wedeman live for us there. Ben, thank you.
OK. Turning to Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy says that Russia's latest bombardment was one of its largest attacks on Ukraine.
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This is footage of Ukrainian forces shooting at a Russian drone. Russia says that all designated targets were hit, resulting in power outages across the country. At least five people have been killed, including a British safety advisor working for Reuters. Ukraine's President responded to the deadly attack.
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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDNET (Interpreted): It was one of the heaviest strikes, a combined one, more than 100 missiles of various types, and about 100 Shahed drones.
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And like most previous Russian strikes, this one was just as vile, targeting critical civilian infrastructure.
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SOLOMON: Now, the massive bombardment comes as President Zelenskyy says that his troops are making progress in Russia's Kursk region.
Let's get to CNN's Salma Abdelaziz, who joins us from London with more. Salma, first, let's talk about what we're learning about these latest Russian attacks.
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. So, for weeks now, since Ukraine pushed into Kursk, pushed into Russian territory, Ukrainians have been bracing for some sort of retaliation, and that's exactly what they think they received in the early hours of Monday morning, 100 drones and 100 missiles fired at Ukraine by Russia all across the country. Of course, Ukraine's air force acted quickly to try to eliminate that threat, but there were consequences. At least four people killed so far. Power outages across the country. As you mentioned, energy infrastructure was the key target here. And take a listen to this moment.
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What you're listening to there, Rahel, is people singing nationalistic songs while they wait out the bombs in the metro. Metro station essentially turned into a bomb shelter, and that scene, of course, repeated all across Ukraine today, as families were sent by those air raid sirens into bomb shelters, into basements, and President Zelenskyy says that's exactly the point of this massive air raid assault, to make normal life impossible for Ukrainians, even those who live far away from those frontlines.
SOLOMON: And Salma, how about the Reuters safety advisor who has been killed? What do we know about that?
ABDELAZIZ: This is yet another shocking attack, and as you mentioned, it's one that's really sent reverberations around our community, a community of journalists, because Kramatorsk, the city in eastern Ukraine, is right near those frontlines, and it is often used as a base by journalists and geo workers, others who want to access that battlefield but need a fallback place. And that's exactly what this Reuters crew was doing. They were staying in a hotel in Kramatorsk, Hotel Sapphire, when it was struck by Russian firepower. Several members of that Reuters crew were wounded. Two were still in hospital.
And as you mentioned, of course, that British national, the security advisor to this Reuters crew, this 38-year-old British man, former member of the military, was killed. Reuters is appealing for more information on the attack, and has sent condolences to his family and friends. But, President Zelenskyy is accusing Russia of deliberately carrying out this attack. He says, Zelenskyy says, that Russia is trying to make it even more dangerous and deadly for journalists to cover this story.
SOLOMON: OK. Salma Abdelaziz reporting live for us from London. Salma, thank you.
All right. Coming up, a congressional task force is out of the capital today. They are visiting the scene of the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump. Coming up, next, we will speak to one of the members of that very task force. Plus, a high-stakes legal hearing, as former Trump allies, including Rudy Giuliani, face charges that they tried to overturn the 2020 election. Just ahead, we will go live to the courthouse in Phoenix.
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SOLOMON: Welcome back. In the coming hours, a bipartisan task force investigating the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump will be at the scene of the July 13th shooting. There they're going to try to figure out, despite warnings from some at the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, how a gunman was able to position himself on the roof of a building so close to where Trump was speaking. Trump and two others were wounded in the attack. One man was killed. 13 members of Congress, seven Republicans and six Democrats, make up the task force, and many have backgrounds in law enforcement or the military, and that includes my next guest.
I want to welcome in Democratic Congressman Jason Crow of Colorado. He is the Ranking Member of the House Task Force. He is also a former Army Ranger, who earned a Bronze Star. Congressman, good to have you. Thanks so much for being here.
REP. JASON CROW (D-CO): Good to be on with you.
SOLOMON: From an investigative standpoint, what can you share with us about the types of things you're hoping to see or learn from this site visit?
CROW: Well, the first thing I want to point out is, last month, something pretty significant happened in the House of Representatives, and that is every single voting member that day, 416, so, every Democrat, every Republican, voted to create this task force. It's pretty rare these days where we have complete consensus on an issue, and I think that's a reflection of the importance of this effort and how seriously Congress is taking this investigation, because whether you're a Democrat or a Republican or an unaffiliated voter, you need to have confidence that, a, political violence will not be tolerated in America, that we will condemn it, and b, that your candidate and your elected official will be safe and secure.
So, that is our charge. That is our responsibility. And we're going to start from the very beginning, from site selection to resourcing, to command and control to communications, and we'll look through every element of this and figure out what went wrong.
SOLOMON: And how does being on the ground and actually being able to see with your own eyes and ears and hear with your own ears, how does that help in terms of the investigation?
CROW: Well, it makes a big difference, actually. I was an Army Ranger, as you indicated. I served in Iraq and Afghanistan, and there is really no substitute for being on the ground and actually seeing the location. You see where the buildings are, where they are in relation to each other, where the shooter was, where the platform and podium was, where the perimeter was supposed to be. And then we're going to talk to local law enforcement officials. We're going to talk to the sheriff's office, the local police department. We're going to hold a listening session with them to hear their account of what happened that day, what they thought should have been done differently as well.
So, just directly talking to folks, seeing the physical outlay of the facilities, it's really going to be important, and that's going to help us inform the rest of our investigation, all of the transcribed interviews we're going to do, the document requests we're going to do. It's going to be a good way to start the investigation.
SOLOMON: Yeah. Coming up on about six weeks since that shooting, any movement on the shooter's motive?
CROW: Well, we were briefed by the FBI, which is conducting a criminal investigation. I think it's important for folks to understand that there are several investigations going on parallel. What we're doing is the congressional investigation that will look at the broad issues, strategic as well as tactical. But, there is an FBI criminal investigation going on about the shooter. There are inspector generals or IG investigations going on within the Secret Service. Those reviews and investigations will continue as well ours. So, we had an initial briefing with the FBI that continues to look at from a criminal perspective the shooter's motivations and what the shooter was doing and why he was doing it.
SOLOMON: And congressman, I mean, speaking of the FBI, have you gotten what you need from the FBI and from the Secret Service? I mean, as you know, Senator Ron Johnson has accused the Secret Service and the FBI of basically dragging their feet on this.
CROW: Well, we've seen no indication of any foot dragging, any stonewalling, whatsoever, that we've been given several briefings by the Secret Service and FBI. We have sent them letters requesting document productions. They have responded to those letters. They have started to give us the documents we've asked for. We're going to send them another one this week. So, there is no indication that they're trying to drag their feet or stonewall. We just haven't seen that.
I'm working hand in glove with the Chairman, Mike Kelly, whose district the shooting occurred and who represents Butler, and this is a bipartisan and serious investigation. And if there are problems, we will call that out, right? If there is any indication that we're not getting what we need in a timely way, we will not hesitate to call that out, but right now, we have not seen any of that.
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SOLOMON: And Congressman Mike Kelly, as you just pointed out, he did say on CNN this morning that the task force, reiterating what you said, has some of what they're looking for, not all, but he said that he is concerned about transparency. Do you have those same concerns?
CROW: Well, he is talking about transparency of the agencies. That's something that we always have to be vigilant about, right? So, we're going to be transparent as a task force. There is no doubt about it. But, our job is not to just accept what we're told, right? When you're conducting an investigation, when you're doing congressional oversight, you're always supposed to be a little skeptical, right? You should ask questions. You should assume that there is more and something else. That is the way in the investigation goes. So, a healthy dose of skepticism is important for any review, and this is no different. SOLOMON: Fair enough. And then, lastly, let me ask you, I mean, there
has been a lot of talk this election cycle about military service, whether it's Tim Walz's military background or Trump's comments about the Medal of Honor. Trump himself is at Arlington National Cemetery today. He is marking three years since those 13 service members died in the Afghanistan withdrawal. I'm curious, congressman, do you worry about the way in which military service is being used almost as a political tool?
CROW: Well, first of all, it should never be politicized, military service. We should be able to come together as Americans and honor our veterans, honor our fallen. I mourn today the loss of those 13 service members at Abbey Gate in Afghanistan. And I also look back, and I mourn almost every day. I served in Afghanistan, two combat tours, and over 2,400 Americans were killed over the 20 years of that war. And what I know is sitting here today because of Joe Biden, we are not at war there. Though that war is over, Americans are not fighting, we're not -- they're not dying. We're not losing our sons and daughters anymore in Afghanistan. And that was the right move.
SOLOMON: Congressman, we appreciate your time today. We know it's a busy day for you, and we know that after your site visit, you will be doing a press conference to hopefully share some additional details about what you learned. So, we will be watching. Thank you so much.
CROW: Thank you.
SOLOMON: Well, it is a huge day for some Trump top allies. Next hour, a judge there will hear arguments on whether some former Trump officials could face prison time if they are convicted of trying to help overturn the 2020 election. Attorneys for former White House Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows, and others are expected to argue that prosecutors are asking for overly harsh punishment in an effort to convince defendants to cooperate. Among those defendants is Rudy Giuliani, who, at one time, served as the former President's personal attorney.
Let's bring in CNN National Security Reporter Zach Cohen, who is following the proceedings from Phoenix, and joins us now. Zach, we know that you're going to have to soon get inside. So, give us a sense of what we can expect in court today.
ZACHARY COHEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yeah, Rahel. This is really the first hearing of consequence since a grand jury handed up criminal charges against 18 allies of former President Donald Trump, including his former White House Chief of Staff and personal lawyer, and they're charged with attempting, allegedly, to overturn the 2020 election results on Donald Trump's behalf. Now, Trump himself is not charged in this case. He is referred to in charging documents as unindicted co-conspirator number one, but 18 others are facing nine felony counts that could potentially carry jail time, prison sentences if they are ultimately convicted.
But, today is really the first step in a long road. We know that prosecutors have asked for a trial date to be set sometime early next year. It's really the only election subversion case that remains ongoing and seems to have a potential culmination point in the near future. Today, though, we do expect to hear a variety of motions be argued, including one where prosecutors are going to say that these defendants should face severe penalties if they are convicted, penalties that do require prison sentences, if that is what the jury decides. We're also going to hear from defense attorneys. They're going to say that the charges against their clients should be dismissed because they're effectively being criminally charged for political speech. So, really opposing views on the table here, and views we've heard in other state-level criminal investigations as well.
You'll remember, in Georgia, several allies of former President Donald Trump and Trump himself were similarly indicted for participating in the fake elector scheme. That is the core issue in Arizona as well. In Arizona too, we are seeing already some plea agreements. Prosecutors have secured some plea agreements in this case already, Jenna Ellis, a former Trump campaign attorney, has basically swapped cooperation in exchange for all the charges against her to be dropped. She is expected to have to testify against the other defendants if and when this case goes to trial.
One of the 11 fake electors in Arizona who was also charged has also pled guilty in exchange for the rest of her charges being dropped in a less severe -- pleading to a less severe crime. So, it may be seen. There is 16 defendants left in this case, and today marks, really, the start of what could be a long road toward trial.
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SOLOMON: Wow. Really interesting. Zach Cohen outside of apparently a very noisy courthouse there in Phoenix. I don't know if that's a lawn mower or construction, but there is a lot happening outside. Zach, thank you.
COHEN: A lot of excitement over here, for sure.
SOLOMON: Clearly.
COHEN: Thank you.
SOLOMON: Clearly. Thanks, Zach.
All right. Coming up, still ahead for us, Italian authorities start a criminal investigation involving the sinking of a luxury yacht. We're going to have a live report from Rome. Plus, thousands of people in Bangladesh and India have a tough road in front of them after severe flooding claimed lives and washed away property. We're going to have the details straight ahead.
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SOLOMON: Welcome back. You're watching CNN Newsroom. I'm Rahel Solomon live in New York. And here are some of the international headlines we're watching for you today.
A militant separatist group is claiming responsibility for attacks that killed at least 48 people in Pakistan. Some of those victims are soldiers and security officers. Pakistan's military says it killed 21 separatists in response to the attacks on police stations, railways and highways. The incident has marked the country's deadliest day of militant activity so far this year.
The Telegram messaging app platform says that its CEO has nothing to hide. Pavel Durov was detained at an airport outside Paris Saturday on a French arrest warrant. CNN's French affiliate reports that the warrants alleges a lack of moderation has let Telegram become a platform for criminal activities by users. Durov is a 39-year-old French and Russian citizen.
Authorities in the U.S. state of Alaska report that one person has died and three others were wounded after a landslide. Homes, businesses and roads were also damaged in a coastal city along Alaska's so-called southern passage. Residents are now keeping a close watch because officials warned that another landslide could strike nearby.
And to Italy now, the captain of the luxury yacht that sank off the coast of Sicily is now facing manslaughter charges. Six people were killed when the sailing boat capsized during a storm last week. The dead included British tycoon Mike Lynch and his daughter. Italian authorities say that the captain also faces negligent shipwreck charges.
Let's bring in CNN's Barbie Latza Nadeau, who joins us from Rome. Barbie, what's the latest now on this investigation?
BARBIE LATZA NADEAU, CNN REPORTER: Yeah. We were sort of expecting the captain to be named on Saturday. That was when the prosecutor addressed the press and kind of laid out what they have so far about this disaster. Now, they know that a violent storm was really what sank the ship, but they say that the captain made errors, made behavioral decisions that could have -- that had he done something differently, could have saved the lives of the people, or, in fact, could have meant that the ship didn't sink, whether that's -- that he had the hatches open, or that he had done some maneuver that was in some way detrimental.
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They're also really looking into whether or not he warned those passengers, who would have been sleeping at the time, whether -- that they were in imminent danger. And so, those are the sorts of things they're looking at. They interviewed him on Sunday afternoon for a couple of hours, and that's when they named him. He has not been taken into custody and he has not been formally charged yet. But, the fact that he is now named in this investigation means that he cannot leave the country. And of course, the next step is going to be raising the ship, and that's going to give the investigators even more information that could be -- prove criminal negligence on the part of the captain and the crew.
SOLOMON: OK. So, more to watch here. Barbie Nadeau live for us in Rome. Barbie, thank you. At least 44 people have lost their lives as flooding continues across
Bangladesh. 11 districts have been dealing with floods, as rescue crews continue to try and rescue those who have been stranded. Thousands have taken refuge in relief camps, government buildings and schools.
Anna Coren shows us the rescues, as the search for survivors becomes more desperate.
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ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Wading through the muddy waters, a handful of belongings clutched above their heads, the residents of Feni make their way to higher ground. A district of 1.5 million people underwater in the epicenter of one of Bangladesh's worst floods in living memory.
RAJIB BAURA, VOLUNTEER: This is a very, very bad situation. And Bangladesh people need help. We need help.
COREN: The military has been mobilized along with an army of volunteers, but it's slow gone. The people who can walk out, no matter how deep the water, no matter their age, they are doing so, but there are countless numbers who are trapped in surrounding areas, and emergency services are completely overwhelmed, which is why volunteers are stepping out.
COREN (voice-over): As far as these people are concerned, this is no natural disaster. They believe India is squarely to blame for this catastrophe. India denies that, but confirmed that one of its dams across the border automatically released water due to excessive levels. But, what really angers the Bangladeshis is that India failed to issue any warning about the surge, citing a power outage and communication breakdown. A diplomatic row has erupted between the two countries. A senior Bangladeshi advisor even accusing India of being inhumane. Food and clean water are now in short supply, but for some, they have more pressing problems.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm feeling very heartbroken because I couldn't rescue my families. Actually, I don't know where they are right now.
COREN (voice-over): This woman boards our boat in desperate search of her sister and one-month-old baby who is sick. With all communication down, she can't reach her. I'm so worried the baby won't make it, she tells me. As dusk falls, we pass houses packed with people calling out for assistance. When we finally arrive at the school where her sister is thought to be sheltering, hundreds of faces appear, but she is not there.
We join another rescue, headed by a man who flew in from Qatar to save his stranded family.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No boat, no support, no rescue team.
COREN (voice-over): They find them exhausted but relieved. COREN: It's just gone 09:00 p.m., and while this has been a successful
rescue, these boats will continue to operate up and down these flood waters throughout the night to bring other families to safety.
Anna Coren, CNN, Feni, Bangladesh.
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SOLOMON: All right. Coming up, it will be the first time that Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have stood eye-to-eye on a stage. But now, Trump may have a problem with the rules. What he and Harris disagree on, after the break, or is it Harris that has a problem with the rules. We'll discuss. And people living in battleground states will likely see a lot of these two. We will look at where they're going and their priorities now that the campaign is at full speed.
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SOLOMON: Welcome back. We're in the final stretch of the race for the White House. With just 71 days left until the November election, both Vice President Kamala Harris and former U.S. President Donald Trump are hitting the campaign trail with the same target in mind, battleground states. Harris and her running mate, Tim Walz, are set to kick off a bus tour in Georgia on Wednesday. Her campaign announcing over the weekend that it has raised $540 million since launching after President Joe Biden's decision to drop out. The Republican ticket is still getting used to the seismic shift in the race. CNN is reporting that Trump's campaign is looking to ramp up his own campaign schedule leading up to November. Trump plans to visit Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania this week.
Meanwhile, the Trump and Harris campaigns are debating the rules for the September 10, well, debate. A source familiar with the matter tells CNN that the Harris campaign wants the microphones to stay on throughout the debate. Now, that would mark a change from CNN's June debate when mics were muted, except for when it was a candidate's turn to speak.
Let's bring in CNN's Alayna Treene, who joins us now from our Washington, D.C. bureau. Alayna, good to see you. So, how seriously should we take this post by Trump to pull out of the ABC debate, questioning whether he should, in fact, and that debate about two weeks away from now?
ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Well, he definitely threw it into question. But, look, I know that behind the scenes, Donald Trump is still preparing for this debate. He has been meeting with policy experts, allies, outside advisors, many people to try and hone those skills before that September 10th debate.
Also, one person that he has actually enlisted help from is former Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard. She used to be a Democrat, then switched to independent. But, remember, she ran for President as well. She was part of the Democratic primary back in the lead up to the 2020 election, and she actually debated with Harris on the stage back then, and that's part of why they have brought her in to help with no understanding Harris' debate skills. But also, we are reporting that Gabbard is actually expected to endorse Donald Trump today. So, keep an eye out for that.
But, look, I actually think some of the news around the debate today is this impasse that it seems that Donald Trump's campaign, but also the campaign of Kamala Harris, has reached over these rules and the discussion around whether the microphones should be on or should they be off. And it's really interesting, because, as you noted, back when Biden was still at the top of the Democratic ticket, he was the one who pushed for the microphones to be turned off unless it was the candidate's turn to speak. At first, the Trump campaign was very critical of that, and they used it to really smear Joe Biden and his campaign. However, now, the Harris campaign is the one that is saying, we want the microphones to be on for the duration of the debate.
And we're actually hearing from the Trump campaign pushing back on that.
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Here is a statement from Jason Miller. He is a senior Trump advisor. He said, quote, "Enough with the games. We accepted the ABC debate under the exact same terms as the CNN debate." The statement went on to say, "We said no changes to the agreed upon rules."
However, Donald Trump was actually asked about this just moments ago this morning by reporters saying, what's the deal with this? What is your opinion on the matter? Take a listen to what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't know. It doesn't matter to me. I'd rather have it probably on. But, the agreement was that it would be the same as it was the last time. In that case --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TREENE: So, Rahel, you could hear him there saying that, if it were up to him, he probably would rather have the mics on. However, he did acknowledge that they had already agreed to the same rules as the CNN debate. But, remember, that was the Biden campaign that had negotiated those rules with the Trump campaign, as well as the networks, not the Harris campaign.
So, some mixed messaging there. But, it is very interesting to hear that Donald Trump is kind of out of step with his campaign and saying he actually would likely rather have the microphones on. So, all of this playing out behind the scenes, of course, just two weeks ago, until that debate. And so, we'll see what happens, as they continue to try and hash these out as they look forward to that September on-stage showdown. Rahel.
SOLOMON: Yeah. Alayna, it sort of makes you wonder if his campaign perhaps wants something differently than the candidate himself. Alayna Treene live for us in Washington. Alayna, thank you.
Let's bring our panel to discuss this further. We have Toluse Olorunnipa. He is the White House Bureau Chief at The Washington Post, and Tia Mitchell, who is the Washington Correspondent for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Good to see you both.
Tia, let me start with you, this post from Trump questioning why he would even do a debate on ABC News. We can pull it up for our viewers at home. It seems hard to see the upside of him not debating with the dynamics changing in the race. I mean, what do you think here?
TIA MITCHELL, WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT, THE ATLANTA JOURNAL- CONSTITUTION: Yeah. I think both campaigns need to be at the debate. Kamala Harris, of course, needs to show that she is willing to answer questions and not be so scripted. Donald Trump has to show that he is not scared of Kamala Harris, and that it wasn't just that he was able to have a relatively good debate against the diminished Joe Biden, but that he can have a relatively good night against a strong opponent, the way Kamala Harris is perceived. So, I would think both campaigns want to work it out for their own reasons to show up on September 10.
SOLOMON: And Toluse, let me just ask, I'm not sure if you heard our correspondent there, but sort of one of her last points was that it seems like Trump may be out of step with his campaign. Put a fine point on that for us, just in terms of the thinking that may be going on behind the scenes here, in terms of whether to leave the mics on or whether to turn them off.
TOLUSE OLORUNNIPA, WHITE HOUSE BUREAU CHIEF, THE WASHINGTON POST: Well, there has always been this sense of disunity between Trump and his closest advisors. The closest advisors are looking at the polls. They're looking at strategy. They're looking at what would be best in a traditional political campaign, and then they're looking at President -- former President Trump, who often does the opposite of what people would advise you to do in a presidential campaign. And Trump always has had this instinct to want to do things his own way. And one of the things that his advisors want to happen is that he would be more presidential at the debate. He would not be talking over Kamala Harris. He would not be interjecting and saying things when he was not supposed to be speaking, like he did during the first debate against Joe Biden in 2020 which he was widely viewed as losing.
And so, his advisors are seen as wanting him to not be having a live mic and be more muted so he could see more presidential, and he is saying he would rather have the mics on so he could do things his own way. And so, there is that dichotomy between himself and his advisors, something that goes back to the very beginning of when he first started running in 2016.
SOLOMON: Yeah. That's interesting. Tia, one of the other big moments that I think many of us are looking ahead to is Harris sitting down for her first big sit-down interview since rising to the top of the ticket. Here is what she said a little earlier this month.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There has been a lot of questions about when you're
going to sit down for your first interview since being the nominee. Do you have any update on that?
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE U.S., (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I've talked to my team. I want us to get an interview scheduled before the end of the month.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOLOMON: Tia, it's obviously the end of the month, where we got a few more days left in August. But, what are you hearing about where the campaign is on this, and also, why the delay?
MITCHELL: Yeah. It's interesting, because she made that promise, and now, again, we're running out of time. The month ends on, what, Friday or Saturday, I'm losing track of my days. But, I think that there is a lot riding on, again, Vice President Harris showing that she is willing to go off script, go off the teleprompter, go off the prepared remarks, and answer questions that she wasn't necessarily able to plan ahead for.
[11:45:00]
Now, she can pull it off in a few days. Any network would be more than willing. The question will be, what network or outlet she chooses? Who does the interviewing? I would expect it to be someone who is not necessarily perceived as a softball, but not necessarily someone who is perceived as hard charging, either. It's kind of somewhere in the middle. And I think it is important, because that's the one criticism. She has had a very smooth rollout, a lot of enthusiasm, people saying no missteps, but that's the one place people have been able to criticize her as saying she is avoiding answering the tough questions.
SOLOMON: Toluse, any further sort of guidance on that. I mean, there are questions, to Tia's point, about who she does the interview with. Does she sit down with Lester Holt again? That, some have pointed to as a more shaky interview. Does she sit down with a member of the legacy media, or does she sit down with someone entirely? Any other insight on that.
OLORUNNIPA: It's a really high-stakes decision, and it's a really high-stakes moment for her campaign. She has had a pretty seamless rollout of her campaign over the last month and a few days, but most of those public events that she has done have been on message, on script, on teleprompter. She hasn't had a lot of long exchanges with journalists. Every once in a while, she does a gaggle where she takes short questions, but she hasn't had the kind of long, detailed, policy-driven exchange with a journalist, or off script town hall kind of event where she has had to lay out her policies. And she has had a lot of changes over the last five years, between where she was when she ran for President in 2019 and when she is running this time.
And so, she is going to be asked a lot of those kinds of questions in an interview space. And so, who she decides to go with, who she decides to speak to, how long the interview will take place, what format it's going to be in, that is going to be a very important decision that she makes. And it's also important prep for her debate, because when she gets to the debate stage in September, she is going to need to be able to think on her feet, and she is not going to have a teleprompter. She is not going to have notes. She is going to need to be able to answer some of those questions. And so, this is going to be a very high-stakes decision, and it'll be very interesting to see what she ends up deciding.
SOLOMON: Yeah, absolutely. Not just what she says, but who she sits down with.
Tia, with about 70 days, 71 days to go, both sides seem to appreciate that it's go time. Both have aggressive campaign schedules. Even just looking at this week, it's clear that the focus for both campaign appears to be the battleground states, but one state apparently seems to be the most important, at least for Republicans. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): If we don't win Georgia, I don't see how we get to 270, but I do believe Georgia is ours to lose. When you look at the right track, wrong track number in Georgia, it's really hard for Kamala Harris to tell Georgians that we're on the right track. They don't believe it.
MITCH LANDRIEU, NATIONAL CO-CHAIR, HARRIS CAMPAIGN: We really think that we have a chance to win Georgia, and they're going to compete there in a very hard way, and we're going to make Donald Trump defend every ounce of ground in America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOLOMON: Tia, what do you expect to see from Trump's campaign in Georgia? I mean, who do they need to reach to win this state?
MITCHELL: So, we know that Trump, his campaign strategy, has really been trying to build up his base, turn out his base, keep base enthusiasm up, which is where he stumbled in Georgia when he criticized Governor Brian Kemp and his wife. And so, we've seen both Kemp and Trump kind of announce the truth, announce that they were on the same page. Trump's team really wants Governor Kemp to join him on the stage for an event in Georgia. I'm not sure that's going to happen. There may be some type of compromise where it's Kemp and perhaps a J.D. Vance on the stage in Georgia. But, again, for Trump to turn out his base, he needs all Republicans in Georgia to be behind him, which means he can't be feuding with the popular governor.
SOLOMON: Yeah. It's really interesting. You got to be careful sometimes who you come after. You might need them in the future. So, you sort of got to watch that.
Toluse, let me ask, when you were looking at the latest New York Times/Siena College polls, which still show no clear leader in states like Nevada, North Carolina and Arizona, but it does represent a shift that appears to be favoring Harris. What voters is she gaining traction with? What voting blocs seem to be sort of leaning more toward Harris than previously with Biden?
OLORUNNIPA: Well, so far, we've seen Democrats coming home to Kamala Harris, some of the Democrats that were not too comfortable with Joe Biden, younger voters, some voters of color that have shifted their allegiance and gone back to the Democratic candidate. Now that it is Kamala Harris, we're going to wait on the polls after the convention to see whether or not she expands beyond that, beyond reaching those Democrats who were disaffected before, and whether or not she is able to win over some more moderate voters, some independent voters, and yes, even some Republican voters.
We saw during the convention, a lot of outreach to Republicans and moderates, saying you can't vote for Trump again. Think about voting for Kamala Harris, that she would be a good choice. And so, whether or not that programming was able to win over some of those disaffected Republicans, that remains to be seen.
[11:50:00]
But, if she is able to get a bigger bump in polling, it will require her not just to win over disaffected Democrats, but to win over some independent voters, some moderate voters, and even some Republican voters who don't like Trump but they're not yet comfortable voting for a Democrat. I expect we'll see a lot more outreach in the weeks ahead.
SOLOMON: Tia, let me ask you last question here. This is something Trump has said, no, she is not having success. This was in an interview with Fox News, if I'm not mistaken. I'm having success. I'm doing great with Hispanic voters. I'm doing great with black men. I'm doing great with women. I want to focus specifically, Tia, on him doing great with black men. Is there something there in terms of an erosion of support with black men that has favored Trump, and if that is the case, what does Kamala Harris do about that?
MITCHELL: So, I think that, especially under a Joe Biden, when it was, to put it plainly, two old white men were the choices, I think there were black men who were open to Trump's messaging, and didn't feel that there was as big of a contrast between Trump and Biden, the whole, what are you going to do for me? That has shifted with Harris now being at the top of the ticket. But, that being said, we know that black men, comparatively to -- compared to black women, quite frankly, are more likely to vote Republican and are more likely to support Donald Trump specifically.
Now, do I think it's going to be a huge fraction of black men? No. But, in a swing state like Georgia, where every vote counts, if Trump is able to increase his support among black men, just marginally, could make a difference. So, what Harris has to do is what she has been doing, a, she has been able to speak to black voters, younger voters, in a way that Biden wasn't. She also is dispatching some black male surrogates. Think about Senator Warnock. Think about Governor Wes Moore. Think about Senator Cory Booker, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens. So, they really are trying to make it clear that they do have a message for black men so that Trump's predictions don't come true.
SOLOMON: Really interesting, fascinating. Great to have you both, Toluse Olorunnipa and Tia Mitchell. Thanks for joining us.
And we'll be right back.
MITCHELL: Thank you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOLOMON: And one more thing before we go. From now on, Australians can leave their phones on silent after leaving the office. That's because a new law protects their so-called right to disconnect.
CNN's Kristie Lu Stout has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For all of Australia's beauty and relaxed reputation, it might be hard to imagine that many people here feel overworked. But, according to some lawmakers, Australians are working an average of six weeks unpaid overtime every year. And so, the government has stepped in to protect people's right to disconnect. As of Monday, people won't have to answer out-of-hours calls, texts or emails.
RACHEL ABDELNOUR, ADVERTISING INDUSTRY WORKER: I think it's actually really important that we have laws like this. We spend so much of our time connected to our phones, connected to our emails all day, and I think that it's really hard to switch off as it is.
[11:55:00]
STOUT (voice-over): Around the world, ill-defined job expectations and constant connectivity has allowed our jobs to encroach on our private worlds. The gray areas remain. There may be times the boss still requires an answer, but workers can now defend their right to disconnect in court if they want to.
DAVID BRENNAN, FINANCE WORKER: We are professionals. We're well paid. We're expected to deliver, and we feel we have to deliver 24 hours a day if we have to. So, the phone is always on. The computer is always on, and we're working.
STOUT (voice-over): Australians likely won't forget work entirely after they leave the office, but more people may feel like they don't have to be always on, meaning, more time to enjoy what is already a fortunate place to be.
Kristie Lu Stout, CNN.
(END VIDEOAPE)
SOLOMON: On that note, I'm going to now disconnect. So, thank you for spending some time with me. I'm Rahel Solomon live in New York. Stick with CNN. One World is coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
