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Biden's Political Career Begins To Wind Down; More Than 600 Firefighters Battling California Fire; Gunman Kills 3 Israelis At West Bank-Jordan Border Crossing; Trump And Harris Preparing For Pivotal Debate Tuesday; Election Could Come Down To Nebraska's Blue Dot. 6-7p ET

Aired September 08, 2024 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:48]

JESSICA DEAN, CNN ANCHOR: You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jessica Dean in New York.

It is a big week ahead for the future of the country. For the first time Americans will see Vice President Kamala Harris facing off against former president Donald Trump during Tuesday night's presidential debate in Philadelphia. Unlike the last three debates, President Biden won't be there. Instead, the White House says he's going to be watching the debate from home, like the rest of America.

The president now facing his last few months in office hoping to accomplish a slew of policy priorities including gun safety legislation. And this week, Congress returning to Capitol Hill on the heels of yet another deadly school shooting. This one in Georgia, where a 14-year-old student gunned down and killed two of his classmates and two teachers. President Biden releasing a statement calling on Congress to get to work and ban assault weapons once and for all. That's what he said.

Let's talk more about this with White House Principal Deputy Communications Director Herbie Ziskend.

Herbie, good afternoon to you. Thanks so much for being here with us today.

HERBIE ZISKEND, WHITE HOUSE PRINCIPAL DEPUTY COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Thanks for having me, Jess.

DEAN: Let's start first with President Biden's legacy. He's looking now at the last four months left in the White House, the end of what has been a multi-decade career in public service. What does he see as the best use of his remaining time in political capital?

ZISKEND: He sees the best use of his remaining time as doing the work and leaving it all on the field. You know, this president, this vice president took office with an economy on its back, with a pandemic raging. We had just lived through an insurrection. And they got to work. They passed legislation that spurred record job creation, 16 million jobs, record numbers of small businesses, private sector capital, not public but private sector capital fueling a jobs boom, a manufacturing boom, a construction boom.

We're seeing inflation down, border encounters down, crime down. So a lot has gotten done. But for the president, for the vice president, for this White House, it's about doing the work over the next four months, doing the work to rebuild the middle class, to continue to take action to lower prices. Doing the work to implement these pieces of legislation. You know, there are 60,000 projects that are up and running as a result of bills that this president has signed into law.

But there's more to do to implement, more to do to get shovels in the ground. There's more to do to restore alliances and strengthen our partnerships around the world. And so there's a lot of time for legacy. Historians will focus on that. But our focus right now is on the work ahead.

DEAN: And, you know, you mentioned the Infrastructure Bill. I think that's a great example of something where there are a lot of projects going on, but a lot of Americans don't really understand or have not felt the impact of that yet. How much of this comes down to getting the message out to them and how much pressure do you all feel to get the message out to Americans who may not quite feel the impacts of some of these projects yet.

ZISKEND: Well, people are starting to feel it, Jess. People are starting to see the lead pipes removed and replaced in their communities. They're starting to see that kids in their community don't need to go to a McDonald's parking lot to get on the internet. They can get high speed, affordable internet at home. Seniors are seeing prescription drugs capped at $2,000 a year. They're seeing insulin capped at $35 a month.

These things are starting to take effect and we're seeing some of the biggest, most ambitious infrastructure projects in generations that are getting to take hold. The Brent Spence Bridge connecting Kentucky and Ohio is going to get renovated and rebuilt as a result of the president's infrastructure law. The Hudson Tunnel Project in New York. There's a whole host of projects that are coming online.

Sure, there's messaging to talk about it, but people are increasingly across this country seeing these projects take hold and our work is to continue to implement and make sure that the fruits of these pieces of legislation, the Recovery Act, the infrastructure law, the CHIPS and Science Act, the Inflation Reduction Act, that the fruits of those pieces of legislations are started being felt in every community across the country.

DEAN: And so there's certainly this strategy that you all have come up with. There's also a mindset, what the mindset is going to be as you used this last bit of time, as he uses this last bit of time to make his impact felt. I'm curious that now that he's not -- that he's not running for reelection, is there a certain amount of freedom that he's feeling? How is he -- and if so, is he trying to use that to his advantage in a way?

[18:05:07] ZISKEND: The focus really is just getting out there. You know, we came back from the summer and last week the president traveled with the vice president to Pittsburgh. The president went to Wisconsin and unveiled the largest investment in rural electrification since the New Deal. He was in Michigan last week. This week he's hitting the road again. He's also meeting with the U.K. prime minister.

It's really about the focus. You know, there's a lot that we can do over the next four months to bring down prices a lot. We can do over the next four months to secure a ceasefire and hostage deal in the Middle East. There's work on our partnerships in Europe and in the Indo-Pacific. So the president's focus, the White House's focus is doing everything we can on behalf of the country to leave everything as I said, Jess, on the field.

DEAN: And I know that he's also planning a fair amount of -- I know you mentioned the trips he's already done. There's a lot of planning it sounds like for a fair amount of travel going into the fall as well. Once the strategy there, and you mentioned trying to land this ceasefire and hostage deal, and I know that remains a big priority for the president and for the administration.

Are there any plans for him at this moment to travel to that region? What kind of travel are you all looking at?

ZISKEND: I don't have travel to announce from here, but the president is going to be in cities and towns all over the country. As I mentioned, he went to several last week. He'll be out on the road this week and then again in the weeks to come. He'll certainly be engaging on foreign policy. He's in recent weeks talk to the leaders of Israel, of Ukraine, of Egypt, of Qatar, of other countries. And he'll certainly do travel internationally as well.

I don't want to get ahead of the president and make any announcements. But there's a lot of work to do on the domestic front, a lot on the national security front, and that remains a focus here.

DEAN: And, you know, there's a lot, even as you're talking about, there's a lot of agenda items here that he wants to get done clearly but a limited amount of time. How do you think through the prioritization of those different buckets and those different items?

ZISKEND: Well, look, there's a lot that we can do as we implement these pieces of legislation. The provisions that lower prescription drug costs that are taking effect increasingly, including on January 1st to make sure that we get those into effect. There's more to do on price gouging. You know, corporations are continuing to make money off of consumers in ways that that frankly are not fair. This administration has acted on that. We'll continue to do so.

There's more on health care. You know, the president this week will announce steps around mental health and supporting people's investments and their insurance covering their mental health services. So there's a whole host of issues on the domestic front and certainly on the international front as well. And so we can walk and chew gum at the same time and do a lot here over the next four months to leave it all out and get as much as we can done by January 20th.

DEAN: And how critical, when the story is told, in the four years he's in office, how critical do you think these closing months will be in that story?

ZISKEND: Critical. We want them to be consequential. We want to get as much done as we can, and look, if you look at the full ark of President Biden's career, his four years as president, which we would argue had been more consequential in one term than presidents often get done in two terms. His work as a senator for 36 years, his work as vice president for eight years, the ark of his career and his life in public service is one of honor, integrity, and he's gotten a lot done on behalf of the American people.

The historians will have time to analyze it and to assess the impact of his legacy. But for us, for him, the focus is on the work right now.

DEAN: And I know before you were in the White House, you also worked for Vice President Kamala Harris in her office. She's now of course in the spotlight. From that vantage point, what can you say anything about how you learned about how she prepares for big moments? Kind of the way she thinks about things.

ZISKEND: Well, the vice president is a career prosecutor. You know, she was the top law enforcement official in the state of California. She was the district attorney of San Francisco. She looks at the evidence. She looks at the facts and she make sure that any given policy, any issue, is it going to affect positively the people it's supposed to effect?

You know, I saw the vice president prepare for meetings with entrepreneurs, with business leaders to make sure that we got access to capital, to entrepreneurs so they could grow their enterprises coming out of the pandemic. I saw her prepare for meetings with President Zelenskyy, days before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, with other leaders in Europe to prepare for that.

She's always focused on how does a policy, how does an issue affect the American people, affect our national interests? And I think you'll see that on display this week as well.

DEAN: All right. Herbie Ziskend, thank you so much for joining us this afternoon. We really appreciate it.

ZISKEND: Thank you, Jess.

DEAN: And we are just two days away from that debate with Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump going face- to-face. CNN will have complete coverage and exclusive analysis before and after the debate. The ABC News Presidential Debate simulcast starts Tuesday at 9:00 p.m. Eastern on CNN.

And when we come back, an explosive wildfire near Los Angeles is forcing evacuations and threatening tens of thousands of buildings and homes. It's even creating its own weather pattern. [18:10:02]

Plus the countdown is on for that debate as Harris and Trump face off against each other in person for the first time. What they both need to do to leave a mark on the race Tuesday night?

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DEAN: Tonight a wildfire burning out of control east of Los Angeles. The Line Fire more than doubling in size overnight prompting evacuations and threatening thousands of homes.

[18:15:04]

Firefighters battling the flames in triple-digit temperatures.

Meteorologist Elisa Rafah is standing by with more on the extreme weather. CNN's Camila Bernal is live in San Bernardino.

Camila, let's start first with you and tell us more about what's happening behind you.

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Jess. So we just came upon some of the hotspots that we essentially followed these firefighters into. And I want to show you some of the conditions that you're seeing in this area. One of the problems is the terrain. It is very steep, so you have firefighters that are basically walking downhill. You even see how they're slipping in that terrain.

It is dry so officials saying that it has not -- there has not been a fire here for a long time and that creates more of a fire, and it is a lot quicker. I also want to show you over on this side because I am seeing -- my photojournalist Rory Ward to come closer to me so that he can see some of the flames down there.

So the other problem that you're having here is the thunderstorms. We are expecting thunderstorms in this area. So we have heard some of the thunder. There is lightning. Yes, there could be some rain and that could be helpful for firefighters. Excuse me. It's just very smoky in this area. But the lightning can also start new fires and they're also telling me that the wind in those storms are so unpredictable that it can move those flames in areas where firefighters do not even know where to go or where to position their crews.

So again, they're just working around the clock. There's about 600 or so firefighters and personnel in this area, but they're asking for more help. That's what officials on the ground here say they need more help because this fire is still zero percent contained, despite all of their efforts. Since Thursday, it's been at zero percent containment and now about 17,000 acres burned.

So you're seeing the work that they're doing around the clock. It is not easy and because it's so hot and because of these conditions, I was told that it's physically difficult for a lot of these firefighters, so they need that rest time as well. There's about 5,000 or so people that have been told to evacuate, either warning or mandatory orders, but this is exactly what they're dealing with.

These flames that are hard to control at times, and so again, you're seeing a lot of the hotspots and you're seeing as you drive around this national forest thousands and thousands of acres already burned -- Jess.

DEAN: All right. Camila Bernal, you all stay safe there. Thank you so much.

Let's bring in meteorologist Elisa Rafah now, who's in the weather center, and we mentioned that the firefighters as Elisa was talking about battling these extreme temperatures, too, and now potentially they could have storms to deal with as well?

ELISA RAFAH, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes. We're finding those thunderstorms fire up on the radar. There are actually some flash flood warnings in effect for parts of San Bernardino County because they could get one to two inches of rain in an hour. Seems like it would be a good thing. But remember these grounds have burn-scars on them so that rain could cause some flash flooding problems.

Also, there are lots of lightning strikes in here as well, Camila was mentioning. That's a concern when it comes to additional fires that could start and you can see where we've got even some severe thunderstorm warnings in effect for some of these sounds that could even drop some large hail and damaging winds. The damaging winds again could make that fire behavior more erratic. We're also dealing with the heat.

We have excessive heat warnings in effect for a lot of the L.A. area and some of those points east where we have some of these concerns about the fires where temperatures have been well into the triple- digits way above average for this time of year. Red flag concerns as well because of the fire, again, near Los Angeles where that humidity has dropped to 5 percent to 15 percent and winds are gusting up to 40 miles per hour.

And that's not on top of the winds that you're getting from those severe thunderstorms. So that's what's made things pretty difficult here. You've got more than 17,000 acres that have burned here at that Line Fire where Camila was, again with zero percent contained because of these fire weather conditions -- Jessica.

DEAN: And Elise, in the last hour, we also got some new details about a tropical disturbance in the Gulf of Mexico. What are you learning about that?

RAFAH: Yes, it's been pretty busy here. We now have potential tropical cyclone six, and what that means is we think or we know it's going to be a tropical depression or a tropical storm in the coming days. And we need to start issuing advisories and watches here. So right now, here's this center. It's very disorganized, sitting about 575 miles south of Port Arthur, Texas. It's got 50-mile-per-hour winds but the center is just a little bit disorganized. We are expecting it to gain strength because look at all of these

water temperatures here in the Gulf of Mexico. Some low 90s, middle and upper 80s. Some incredibly warm ocean temperatures that will fuel this into possibly a hurricane. Right now the watches are only in effect for the Gulf Coast of Mexico. We are expecting tropical storm watches to be issued along the coast of Texas, maybe even as far east as Louisiana.

[18:20:01]

Because if you look at the track, we are looking at a hurricane landfall possible somewhere on the Texas-Louisiana coastline possibly late Tuesday into Wednesday. So something we need to watch incredibly closely.

Now, we had a recent hurricane landfall in Texas with Beryl earlier in the season that came through the Houston area. We've had a couple of other named storms, Ida, Beta, in this area as well. But when it comes to two hurricanes in one season for the Texas coastline, you have to go back to 2008 where we had Dali and Ike make landfall. So again, we'll have to watch, see maybe if Texas gets this one-two punch already so far this season.

We could find these tropical storm-force conditions starting already late Tuesday. You could see maybe some of those outer bands coming in on the coastline. And then as we go into Wednesday, we're watching to see if we can get it to be a hurricane and where it can make landfall.

Now, regardless of whether it's a tropical storm or a hurricane or what have you, we do have a concern for some flash-flooding. Already have some slight risk, a level two out of four for heavy rain along the Texas and Louisiana coastlines through Tuesday and Wednesday because you're already fearing about rainfall totals in this area that could be four to eight inches, maybe even up to 12, and some isolated cases now where this heavy rain is will really heavily depend on that track. So expect updates in the coming days -- Jessica.

DEAN: All right. Elisa Rafah for us in the Weather Center. Thanks so much.

Still to come, what we've learned about the deadly attack along the border between the West Bank in Jordan that left three Israeli guards dead. We'll tell you more on the other side.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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[18:25:55]

DEAN: Tonight Israeli forces say two rockets were fired from Gaza into Israel. This is video of the IDF intercepting one of them while the other one landed in the waters off the coast. The Israeli military say another 50 projectiles were launched toward Israel from Lebanon overnight, most of those were also intercepted and no injuries were reported. We do have new developments on the deadly attack on an Israeli border

crossing. Jordanian authorities saying the brother of the man suspected of killing three border guards earlier today says his brother may have been motivated by anger over the violence in Gaza. The shootings happening at Allenby Bridge, a crossing used by many Palestinians after the attack. Israel closed three land crossings and says they will not reopen until tomorrow morning.

CNN's Matthew Chance has more now from Tel Aviv.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jessica, tonight all the land crossings from Jordan into Israel and the West Bank remained closed as Israeli security forces continue to secure the area where a Jordanian gunman fired on Israeli workers killing three of them before being shot dead.

Jordanian officials say their preliminary investigation suggest the attacker was a truck driver carrying commercial goods from Jordan to the West Bank, who they believe was acting alone. Understandably, though, there's been condemnation in Israel, the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calling the attacker a despicable terrorist who murdered Israelis in cold blood.

In a statement, Hamas praised the attack, but stopped short of claiming responsibility for it, saying instead it was a natural response to the war in Gaza. Israel, remember, is already reeling after the killings by Hamas last week of six more Israeli hostages held in Gaza. Tens of thousands of demonstrators staging angry protests across the country in recent days, demanding an immediate deal to bring more than 100 Israelis still held in Gaza back home.

This latest attack across the normally calm border from Jordan is raising tensions even further.

Jessica, back to you.

DEAN: Matthew Chance, thank you very much from Tel Aviv.

Let's bring in Aaron David Miller, a former Middle East negotiator with the State Department, and a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Aaron, great to see you this afternoon. Thanks so much for being here with us. I first just want to get your thoughts on this violence along that border with Jordan. It's the first violence along that particular border since this war on Hamas began on October 7th. What do you make of it?

AARON DAVID MILLER, FORMER STATE DEPARTMENT MIDDLE EAST NEGOTIATOR: First of all, thanks for having me, Jessica. Look, the Israeli- Jordanian borders arguably the longest and least defensible in Israel's borders. Relations between the Hashemite Kingdom and the Netanyahu government had been cool and chilly to say the least. But there's very intermittent intensive security cooperation between Jordanian intelligence and the Shin Bet and Mossad and the IDF. So that border is generally quiet. There are three critical crossing

points in the north. The Allenby Crossing Point and then near Aqaba and Eilat is the third one. It's generally extremely quiet, but occasionally I think the last incident was in 2016 there are incidents. Clearly Gaza has affected the Jordanian population, the majority of which are Palestinian. Greatly Jordanians are gearing up for parliamentary elections this month. At least the first phase of them.

Jordanians appeared to believe and these Israelis confirmed it, this is a lone gunman, although it's interesting to note, Palestine Islamic Jihad, a small Palestinian terror organization, which is all but wholly owned subsidiary of Iran, came out to praise the operation. And the Iranians have been trying to funnel weapons specifically IEDs over the Jordanian border to Palestinian groups in the West Bank.

[18:30:01]

So I guess in a way it's stunning. This was the first incident since October 7th. Hopefully there won't be many more.

DEAN: And the Allenby Bridge Crossing mostly serves this like three million Palestinians. How might this closure impact them?

MILLER: Well, I mean that's, I guess, one of the ironies here, right? I mean, presumably this individual undertook something in defense of the Palestinian cause, and yet delay enclosure of that border. Blocks a key route for the distribution and delivery of Jordanian assistance and commercial goods to the West Bank.

The Allenby Crossing was also being used as a point to deliver humanitarian assistance to Gaza. West Bank is pretty sealed up. The Israelis have essentially not permitted Palestinian workers. They're withholding transfers, monetary payments. Economic situation on the West Bank is grim and the longer this border crossing remains close, only to add to those economic woes.

DEAN: And then as you and I are talking for months now, the U.S. has been leading a coalition to try to get these ceasefire and hostage talks to an actual deal and closing a deal. It was interesting that we heard from the CIA director Bill Burns over the weekend and his assessment of getting a deal done was essentially he said it comes down to political will in leadership on both sides. And both sides being willing to recognize enough is enough, essentially went on to say time to make tough decisions.

Do you agree with that assessment?

MILLER: Absolutely. You know, Bill was a former U.S. ambassador to Jordan and knows the region extremely well. And there's no question. You and I have been talking for months now about the absence of urgency in negotiations, particularly sensitive negotiations like these, it's almost always because the parties believed that the advantages of doing a deal are a way these advantages of not concluding, and frankly, the two principal decision-makers here, Yahya Sinwar and Benjamin Netanyahu, for months now have not seen kind of urgency that is required to deal with some of these sensitive issues.

I'm absolutely persuaded that every issue under negotiation could be tractable, could be resolved. As Bill -- CIA Director Burns said, if there were political will on the part of Sinwar and Netanyahu, there's not, this leaves the administration frankly with very bad options. I mean, rescue operations with immersion special OPS are fraught as the Israelis discovered with this discovering the bodies of the six over the last four, five days.

Opening a separate channel to Hamas to negotiate for the return of American hostages, I could see how that could play wildly for Hamas' public relations advantage, but I don't think the administration would want to be put in that position. So it really does leave sadly a negotiation as the only way, not just the (INAUDIBLE) as we've seen in November. 105 last year were at least to begin to deescalate the war, at least for a phase one within six weeks.

I don't think the administration could just give up, take their proposals and go home. I suspect theyll continue to try, but the headlines are bad here, Jessica, and the trend lines look even worse to me.

DEAN: All right, Aaron David Miller, always good to get your thoughts. Thank you very much.

MILLER: Thank you, Jessica.

DEAN: Ahead, new reporting from both inside -- from inside both the Harris and Trump campaigns about the last-minute preparations each candidate is taking as they get ready for Tuesday's consequential debate now just two days away. And we are following breaking news out of Kentucky where police have been searching the woods for the suspect in last night's highway shooting.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:38:36]

DEAN: Vice President Kamala Harris will face off against former president Donald Trump in their first and maybe their only debate on Tuesday. We're going to see. They will also do so at a potentially pivotal point in a very tight race.

The latest CNN Poll of Polls showed no clear leader in the race making this debate an opportunity for both candidates.

Jasmine Wright is a political reporter for NOTUS. She joins us now.

Jasmine, good to have you. Thanks for being here.

JASMINE WRIGHT, POLITICAL REPORTER, NOTUS: Thanks so much for having me.

DEAN: I know you've covered the vice president for a very long time. Let's start first with her. Walk us through what you've learned about how she's preparing for this debate. And also just having covered her now for a while, what you know about her personality in terms of moments since like this.

WRIGHT: Yes, Jessica. Well, the vice president is holed up in Pittsburgh at a hotel with her team, really going through the debate prep motions. We know it's an intensive session. Kind of the point of getting her there is not just to get her acclimated with being in Pennsylvania, obviously we've seen her over the course of the days talking with folks outside the hotel, making sure that they see their face. But also to have that real focus inside those debate prep moment, something that her team knows about the vice president is that she's a rusty debater.

It will be almost four years to the month since she debated Vice President Pence in 2020. Obviously, that's been a quite some time. Donald Trump, we know, just did a debate last June. Also, they know that she fixates on details at times, sometimes tries to overprepare.

[18:40:03]

And so they want to get her to a motion where she's sitting down, going through these mock debate sessions, not able to fix it in policies but really tried to go through and prepare her not just to talk about a future forward policy, to talk about things when she's potentially on the defense, but also to take confrontation. It's been a long time, one person told me, since the vice president has gotten kind of disrespected to her face as they expect that the former president might do.

And so that is something that they're really focused on and getting her in the mode to take incoming, but also give it right back, and potentially dispel his lies or any other types of things. But something about the vice president that I think is important for folks to know is that she actually, I won't say enjoys confrontation, but she's a former prosecutor. She has been in moments where she's had to move quickly on her feet or something has happened in the courtroom and she's had to readjust her strategy.

And so that her people who are preparing her in Pennsylvania now are hoping to see some of that agility on the debate stage on Tuesday in Pennsylvania.

DEAN: And so what are you learning then about Trump and how his circle of advisers is approaching this debate? They are doing -- their approaches are quite different.

WRIGHT: Yes, I mean, I think it's actually night and day when you think about how intensively the vice president preps for moments like this. We know her, she is somebody who does her homework in the way that Donald Trump does. His advisers don't like to say that it's a policy -- I mean, excuse me, don't like to say it's debate prep, instead it's going over policy. They ask him questions, he responds, but it's much less formal than I think what we're -- what is happening right now at that Pittsburgh hotel with the vice president. Something we know that's happening is that Trump is surrounded by

people he trusts including Tulsi Gabbard, somebody who the vice president sparred with in 2019, was actually probably the only person in 2019 that was really able to land a blow on her during those Democratic primary debates. So that's obviously go to something that's happening with the former president, but also at the same time, they're probably trying out one-liners, the same as the vice president. Trying out things that they believe will stick to her as they tried to make it seem on a number of accounts that, one, she is somebody who is tied to President Biden and also that she -- somebody that's flip-flopping on her policies from 2019 to now, and also someone that she's really not to be trusted and potentially a communist as Trump has said multiple times.

And so that's how they want to frame her, and that's I believe some of the prep or policy debates that they're doing right now.

DEAN: And so much of this, look, Trump is very defined. Americans either like him or don't like him, but they know who he is. She remains pretty -- she remains undefined for 28 percent of people so they want to know more about her. That was in "The New York Times" polling.

WRIGHT: Right.

DEAN: And so there has been this race on both sides to define her before the other side can. This debate obviously is an opportunity to do more of that. Do they have a plan around that? Are they aware of that? Is that something they're taking into consideration?

WRIGHT: Yes, Jessica. They're absolutely aware of this and this is why it is so high-stakes for the vice president. I think we've heard over the course of day pundits and folks alike saying that the onus is on Trump here, and that may be true, but it is a high-stakes moment for the vice president because of that 28 percent of voters from that "New York Times" poll, who doesn't know what she would do in office, who doesn't know her very much at all.

This is a time for her not just to prove that she can be presidential in the face of potential confrontation from the former president, but prove that she can outline in an offensive manner who she is and what she wants to do and what motivates her or her policies. So yes, part of the training is about preparing her for that confrontation, but it's also about preparing her to be able to talk about her policies and who she is and connect her experience as to what she wants to do in office in a really offensive way on the debate stage, that connects with people because they recognize that this is probably one of the last times, if not the last time that she could have an audience of tens of millions of people watching, even if primarily because there's no audience inside of the debate arena, just talking to the camera.

DEAN: Yes. All right. Jasmine Wright, always great to see you. Thanks so much.

Nestle in the eastern edge of ruby red Nebraska sits a single congressional district that could make or break the 2024 presidential election.

CNN's Jeff Zeleny explains why the Omaha area could decide the race for the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These blue dots are popping up on lawns across Omaha. Signs of a campaign where not only every vote counts but where every electoral vote is critical.

JASON BROWN, NEBRASKA DEMOCRATIC VOTER: We debated back and forth and we went for it and said, well, I think the mystery is kind of cool, and it turned out to be a huge win because --

RUTH HUEBNER-BROWN, NEBRASKA DEMOCRATIC VOTER: Because it's starting conversations.

J. BROWN: Exactly. We had no idea that conversations would go.

R. BROWN: I think they're like, well, what's the blue dots? And that's the important part because as soon as you start the conversation, you have a full conversation.

ZELENY: Ruth Huebner-Brown and her husband, Jason, are suddenly having more conversations about the blue dot, symbolizing a Democratic island in a sea of Nebraska red and the state's unique way of dividing electoral votes.

[18:45:09]

J. BROWN: It's plausible that we could have a tie and a whole notion of, oh, my vote doesn't matter kind of just really tossed out the window because this could be it. This could be the deciding factor.

ZELENY: For all of the pathways for Kamala Harris and Donald Trump to reach the White House, the race for 270 electoral votes could come down to Nebraska's sprawling Second District. And here's why. If Harris carries the three blue wall battleground states, and Trump wins the swing states across the Sun Belt, a single electoral vote surrounding Omaha could keep the race from becoming a 269 to 269 tie, decided by the House of Representatives.

GOV. TIM WALZ (D), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Well, hello, Nebraska.

ZELENY: A not-so-secret weapon for Democrats could be Tim Walz, who was born and raised here before moving two states away to Minnesota. Tony Vargas believes the Harris-Walz ticket will also help Democrats win control of Congress, starting with his race here, which is among the country's most competitive.

TONY VARGAS (D), NEBRASKA STATE SENATOR: We have suburban, we have rural, we have urban, we have all different walks of life, you know, all different races, ethnicities, socioeconomic but really this is a truly independent place. ZELENY: Republican Congressman Don Bacon has thrived and survived

politically because of that independent streak of the district. Trump won here in 2016 but lost in 2020. Bacon said Trump runs the risk of losing again if he doesn't focus on inflation and immigration.

REP. DON BACON (R-NE): When you talk about DEI, race, coming up with nicknames, that doesn't play well in this district. They want to talk about the issues. This is an issue district.

ZELENY: For months, Trump and his allies have sought to change Nebraska's election law. An award all electoral votes to the statewide winner rather than by congressional district, a process shared only by Maine.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You better get me Omaha, do you understand that?

ZELENY: For now, Republicans are working to defeat Harris here in a district that extends through Omaha's western suburbs to rural towns like Wahoo, where Stephen and Sonya Peetz are ready for change.

STEPHEN PEETZ, NEBRASKA REPUBLICAN VOTER: I would like just to see, you know, some hope. I don't see it now.

ZELENY: Which of those candidates do you think gets the closest to bringing you hope?

S. PEETZ: I would say Trump.

SONYA PEETZ, NEBRASKA REPUBLICAN VOTER: Absolutely Trump. I have a feeling that he is a person who sticks to his word. He means what he says.

ZELENY (voice-over): They question what Harris stands for and are not sold on Walz no matter where he grew up. Back in the Dundee neighborhood of Omaha, the blue dots are in such high demand, Jason Brown ran out of spray paint.

Orders are stacking up he said and not only from Democrats but from Independents who may decide the election.

J. BROWN: It doesn't mean, oh, my God, I've become a Democrat. No, you're voting for what you feel is right for the future.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZELENY (on-camera): So nine weeks before the election, for all the talk of the blue wall states of Pennsylvania and Michigan and Wisconsin, that is not enough to win the White House without the blue dot here in Omaha. That is because the electoral votes are divided here by congressional district. Only Nebraska and Maine have this process. Republicans have tried to change it. Democrats embrace it.

But the bottom line here is the Harris campaign and the Trump campaign have all their eyes on Nebraska for that one electoral vote. If this race is close, it certainly could matter. Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Omaha.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN: Jeff, thank you.

Taylor Fritz was hoping to do something no American man has done in 20 years. We're live at the U.S. Open. That's next.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:53:03]

DEAN: It was another disappointing day for American tennis fans as Italian world number one, Jannik Sinner, defeated Taylor Fritz to take the U.S. Open trophy and end the hopes in 2024 of an American man finally winning a grand slam title for the first time since 2003.

CNN's Andy Scholes was there, he watched it all unfold.

Andy, was Taylor Fritz, though, the biggest Taylor in the stadium, would you say?

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN WORLD SPORT: Yes, everyone you know, could definitely see Taylor Fritz out there on the court and we're rooting for him, Jessica, but probably not the most famous Taylor in the stadium, right, because Taylor Swift was here as well with her boyfriend, Travis Kelce, Patrick Mahomes, his wife were here in the same suite. They were able to be here because they played on Thursday night this week. And so they had Sunday off.

But there was actually a lot of cameras pointed at that suite just to get Taylor Swift's reaction to everything. But the entire crowd is really behind Taylor Fritz this entire match. They wanted to see him finally end that long American drought, but it was just not meant to be today because Jannik Sinner was just masterful. He was flying baseline to baseline, just outlasting Fritz in many of the long rallies.

And in the end he would win in straight sets, become the first Italian man ever to win the U.S. Open. And he actually swept the hardcourt grand slam this year, also won in the Australian Open back in January. And it's actually been quite challenging few months for Sinner. We learned right before the tournament that he actually had tested positive twice for a banned substance back in March.

Now he blamed his physiotherapist and was actually cleared of any wrongdoing, but even with that hanging all over and he still went out there, played his best tennis and was able to win second grand slam, which is 23-years-old. Here's what he had to say after the match.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JANNIK SINNER, 2024 U.S. OPEN CHAMPION: I did pretty well, I guess. (LAUGHTER)

SINNER: We just went day by day, you know. Trying to practice well, even in the days off, believing in ourselves, which is the most important -- yes, I'm very happy, very proud to share this moment with my team.

[18:55:07]

I would like to thank everyone for being so fair in this amazing arena.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Yes, this is the first time since 2002, Jessica, that none of the big three Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, or Raphael Nadal won a men's grand slam tournament. They were swept by Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. Sinner, 23-years-old, Alcarez, just 21-years-old.

I mean, this truly feel like the changing of the guard in men's tennis.

DEAN: Yes. No doubt about it.

Andy Scholes, thanks so much for walking us through it. Good to see you.

Still ahead, we are just over 48 hours from the first face-to-face between former president Trump and Vice President Harris as they prepare for their first presidential debate. Plus Congress gets back to work tomorrow with keeping the government funded at the top of their to-do list.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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