Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Manhunt Underway for Interstate Shooter in Kentucky; How White Evangelicals View Trump's Shifts on Abortion; Massive California Fire Sparks State Of Emergency; Trump, Harris Look to Gain Support in Key Battleground States; Venezuelan Opposition Leader Leaves Country for Spain; Family Blames Israel for American's Death in West Bank; CIA Director: Ceasefire and Hostage Deal is 90% Complete. Aired 5-6a ET

Aired September 08, 2024 - 05:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:00:39]

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN Newsroom.

Chaos on a Kentucky highway when someone opened fire on several cars. We'll look at what we know about the shooting suspect who is still at large. As Donald Trump visits another battleground state, we'll look at the influence of evangelical voters and how this election is shaping up to be unlike others.

Plus, a wildfire in California is blazing so hot it's creating its own weather. Now, a heat wave expected this week could impact containment efforts.

ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta, this is CNN Newsroom with Kim Brunhuber.

BRUNHUBER: We begin with the manhunt underway right now in Kentucky for a gunman who opened fire on a busy interstate highway. Shots rang out late Saturday afternoon near Interstate 75 in Laurel County just north of London, Kentucky. That's about 80 miles south of Lexington.

One woman told CNN she and her friend heard a loud noise while they were driving that sounded like a gunshot and later saw several police cars speed by. When they made it to their destination, Christina DiNoto noticed damage to her car. She told CNN her hands are still shaking.

Here she is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTINA DINOTO, SHOOTING WITNESS: All of a sudden, we just heard this deafening loud sound and it sounded like -- like a rock went through my back window and our ears were ringing and we just looked at each other and we were like, was that a gunshot? And then we're like, that can't be a gunshot, you know, because we're driving down the highway.

And there was a white truck that was next to us in the right-hand lane. And all of a sudden, he slowed down and he pulled off to the shoulder. And we thought maybe it was his tire had blown out or something, but it was much louder than a tire blowing out. And it was just so loud and so scary. You know, it's something very unexpected while you're just driving.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Police are looking for this man, 32-year-old Joseph A. Couch of Woodbine, Kentucky. Police say he is considered armed and dangerous.

London Mayor says authorities know the general area where the suspect is, but they're not releasing that information. And the police chiefs had this to say to area residents.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RANDALL WEDDLE, LONDON, KENTUCKY MAYOR: Be vigilant. And if you see Joseph Couch, then call the 911 and units will come. But be vigilant and just stay home. That's the best way to be safe tonight is just to stay home and be vigilant even there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Police say at least nine vehicles were hit by bullets on both North and Southbound I-75 and five people were seriously injured. At last report, all five were in stable condition. Earlier, my colleague spoke with former Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis about the case.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ED DAVIS, FORMER BOSTON POLICE COMMISSIONER: There are a couple of remarkable things in this particular case. One is that the police so quickly put this picture out. That's very unusual. It would indicate to me that there's probably been some past history with this guy. And they sort of had a leg up on this investigation when it started. It's great the information is out there. People can keep an eye out for him.

In some ways, it's almost better if he gets into a car and makes a getaway on the highways. The police are much more attuned and capable of catching someone in a vehicle, especially if they have a good description of the vehicle with -- with license plate readers and cameras that are out there right now.

If the individual goes into a populated area or stays on the highway, the chances of him being picked up quickly improve quite a bit. So that's a best-case scenario for the police, I think.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Now to Georgia, where two students and two teachers were shot and killed on Wednesday. We're learning that the mother of the accused gunman at Apalachee High School called a school counselor with a warning before the shooting. That's according to the woman's sister.

The call was reportedly prompted by an alarming text message from her son in which he said, "I'm sorry, Mom."

Marcee Gray then told the school of an extreme emergency involving her 14-year-old son, Colt. She has now apologized for the, quote, "absolutely horrific shooting." Her son has been charged with four counts of felony murder.

The small community of Winder, Georgia, is still trying to process the tragedy. There were two contrasting responses to the Apalachee shooting in Georgia from the vice presidential nominees. Democrat Tim Walz objected to J.D. Vance's assertion that school shootings were, quote, "a fact of life." Listen to this.

[05:05:09]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

J.D. VANCE (R-OH) VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't like this. I don't like to admit this. I don't like that this is a fact of life. But if you're -- if you are a psycho and you want to make headlines, you realize that our schools are soft targets. And we have got to bolster security at our schools.

GOV. TIM WALZ, U.S. DEMOCRATIC VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: It's a fact of life. Some people are gay. But you know what's not a fact of life? That our children need to be shot dead in schools. That's not a fact of life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Walz was speaking at the Human Rights Campaign's national dinner. He criticized Republicans for restricting books with LGBTQ plus themes because of the fear they would, quote, "turn your children gay." And while Walz spoke inside the national dinner, the demonstrators outside marched and spoke to protest the treatment of Palestinians.

On Tuesday, presidential nominees Kamala Harris and Donald Trump will face off at their first, possibly only debate. And they're taking quite different approaches to the big event. Trump has been spending his time out on the trail.

Harris has been doing some intense prep at her hotel in Pittsburgh and taking breaks to get out and meet people in the battleground states.

New CNN polling shows the two candidates are running neck and neck in several key battleground states. The campaigns hope the debate will help them win over some undecided voters ahead of the November election.

And Donald Trump has spent his Saturday campaigning in another battleground state. He gave a lengthy speech at a rally in Wisconsin where he talked about the economy and called for a change to the 25th Amendment. It was a line clearly aimed at by President Kamala Harris.

Alayna Treene has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Well, Donald Trump spoke for nearly two hours on Saturday in Mosinee, Wisconsin. And this is a key battleground state. There is a reason that Donald Trump has been coming to Wisconsin so often. That's because Donald Trump's campaign views it as being a key part of their pathway to achieving 270 electoral votes come November.

Now, look, they actually recognize it's perhaps even more important now that Kamala Harris is at the top of the Democratic ticket. Prior to Joe Biden ending his campaign, Trump's senior advisors had told me they were very confident about their chances here.

But now recent polling, including CNN's own polling released last week, shows that Harris has actually made up a lot of in this state. She is currently polling a little bit better than Donald Trump here, although it was incredibly close. You're going to be seeing a lot more of him in Wisconsin in the next two months. But a big focus of Donald Trump's speech on Saturday was about the economy.

Now, we know that this is the most important issue for most voters across the country, but it's also an issue where Donald Trump is polling better than the Vice President. And so you're going to hear a lot more about that as well on Tuesday when he faces off with Harris on the debate stage.

And one other thing I think is very notable to point out is that he made some news on Saturday. He said for the first time that he would look into modifying the 25th Amendment if elected. Take a listen to what he said.

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: And finally, I will support modifying the 25th Amendment to make clear that if a vice president lies or engages in a conspiracy to cover up the incapacity of the president of the United States, if you do that with a cover up of the president of the United States, it's grounds for impeachment immediately and removal from office.

TREENE: So as you heard him say, there is grounds for impeachment and removal from office. This is clearly in line with Donald Trump's language about Kamala Harris trying to cover up for Joe Biden. He's been saying that without evidence.

But look, it all plays into his broader goal of trying to paint her as not being fit to serve, as being part of the Democratic establishment and the overall D.C. establishment. You saw signs on Saturday that said drain the swamp. That is going to be another key message that you'll hear him talk about on Tuesday in Philadelphia.

Alayna Treene, CNN, Mosinee, Wisconsin.

(END VIDEOTAPE) BRUNHUBER: Well, especially in southern battleground states like here in Georgia and neighboring North Carolina, white evangelicals make up an important voting bloc. And while one might think of them as being solidly conservative, recent trends show they are anything but monolithic. Now, there's no doubt they've been a key part of the Republican coalition since the 1980s.

CNN exit polls show that about 80% of white evangelicals voted for Donald Trump in the 2016 election, only slightly fewer backed him in 2020. Now, those same polls estimated that a little more than a quarter of voters identified as white evangelicals. But according to Public Religion Research Institute, those numbers are shrinking.

By last year, the number of voters identifying as white evangelicals dropped to 13%. The number of those with no religious affiliation rose from 16% to 27%.

[05:10:05]

Now, this also comes amid a rise in what's known as post-evangelical institutions. Those have broken away theologically and politically from conservative places of worship.

I want to bring in Andrew T. Walker, who's a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. He's also an Associate Professor of Christian Ethics at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. And he joins us now from Louisville, Kentucky.

Thank you so much for being here with us. So, Donald Trump needs evangelicals to show up on Election Day. Is there any sense that he might be losing some of that support because of his softening stance on abortion now?

ANDREW T. WALKER, FELLOW, ETHICS AND PUBLIC POLICY CENTER: Well, first, thanks for having me on. I think this is obviously a tremendously important election, and I think evangelicals are going to play a major role in the election. And I do think that the former president's comments on abortion have been very demoralizing to a lot of pro-life and evangelical voters.

And so I do think it is very incumbent upon him to be really clear on where he is. And I do think that he stands the risk of demoralizing a base that has, in previous elections, been one of his most fervent constituents.

BRUNHUBER: But, I mean, demoralizing, but these sort of threats from evangelicals that they might not show up on Election Day, at the end of the day, I mean, it's not like they're going to, you know, go and vote for Democrats, are they? At the end, might they just sort of swallow their pride and vote for him anyway?

WALKER: I think it's likely the case that most evangelical Christians will find themselves more at home with the Republican platform, not because the Republican platform is the Christian party, but because the Republican platform seems less hostile to an evangelical worldview than is tragically the case with the Democratic Party. But I do think that, again, this is going to be an election where I think evangelical turnout could be a decisive factor in what happens on November 5th.

BRUNHUBER: All right. So you're talking about them being sort of more at home in the Republican Party. Donald Trump won the support of more than 80% of white evangelicals in 2016 and 2020. But, you know, there are some who are trying to change that. Here's a clip from evangelicals for Harris.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you ever asked God for forgiveness?

TRUMP: That's a tough question. I'm not sure I have. I just -- I don't bring God into that picture. I don't.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: So just a clip of Donald Trump sort of, you know, I guess trying to portray him as not really all that involved in religion. Is this idea of evangelicals going to the Democrats? Is that just sort of a novelty movement or does it have legs?

WALKER: I think as election season arises, the various sides form coalitions to kind of bring out -- bring out the various perspectives. I do think that the kind of evangelicals for Harris movement is tragically mistaken, both theologically and morally. Theologically, they've made very troubling comments about what they define an evangelical to be.

And then I think also the evangelicals for Harris movement is tragically downplaying the severity to which the modern Democratic Party is advocating policies and a worldview that I think most evangelicals understand is deeply, deeply hostile to what we are concerned about, which is the sanctity of human life, promotion of the natural family and support for religious liberty.

BRUNHUBER: Well, aside from -- from abortion and I guess how you and I might differ on talking about a quote natural family, that clip of Donald Trump, I mean, it touched on something Trump by, you know, all accounts isn't a religious man. Many of his comments on things like helping the less fortunate and immigrants or, you know, perhaps not reflective of the teachings of Jesus, one might say, all the criminal charges, including hush money, payments to a porn star. Why is he perceived by many evangelicals as a champion for Christianity?

WALKER: Well, I want to be clear. I'm not the type of evangelical who thinks that Donald Trump is any type of kind of laudable religious figure. I think that he does have some character issues that have been long established. And I don't think that evangelicals should downplay the character issues that have plagued Donald Trump.

While we call for high character and integrity by our office holders, we also have to consider the reality that there are policies that the two parties are representing. And as evangelicals are concerned, there is a stark contrast between those two parties still.

BRUNHUBER: All right, well, listen, we'll leave it there, but really appreciate getting your perspective. Andrew T. Walker in Louisville, Kentucky, thank you so much.

WALKER: Thank you.

BRUNHUBER: A massive wildfire in Southern California sparks a state of emergency. Thousands of people are forced from their homes. We'll have details just ahead.

[05:15:08]

And some 55 million Americans are under heat alerts. We'll let you know where the scorching temperatures are and how long people can expect to swelter. That is ahead.

And the strongest challenger to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's grip on power has left the country. With all of that coming up, please stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRUNHUBER: An explosive wildfire in Southern California has the governor declaring a state of emergency. Thousands of people are being forced from their homes. The so-called Line Fire in San Bernardino County has burned 17,000 acres, or 7,000 hectares, in just over 50 hours. That's up from just 3,000 hectares just a few hours earlier.

The fire was 0% contained as of Saturday evening. And it burned so hot that the blaze is creating its own weather clouds and thunderstorms. The Red Cross set up an evacuation shelter for residents, and FEMA is stepping in.

[05:20:07]

Homeowners in the city of Highland and nearby areas faced mandatory evacuation orders. Several other communities are facing precautionary evacuation warnings.

Animal shelter services and livestock pens were set up as well. A number of agencies are involved, including CAL FIRE, the U.S. Forest Service, as well as county fire and sheriff officials.

Extreme heat across the western United States is prompting weather alerts. Blazing temperatures spread across the southwest into Southern California and into the Pacific Northwest. CNN Meteorologist Elisa Raffa has the full report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELISA RAFFA, CNN METEOROLOGIST: The heat goes on. The southwest continues to smolder with temperatures up in the triple digits from places like Fresno, Las Vegas, and Phoenix on Sunday. This is after many locations have already tied or broken daily records with temperatures in the triple digits.

Downtown LA hitting 112 degrees. The airport hitting 102. Even temperatures up in the upper 90s for some cities in Washington and Oregon tying and breaking records. We'll keep these temperatures of near 100 degrees or hotter through the next couple of days. Las Vegas continues to see that heat stretch through Tuesday. So does Phoenix. Temperatures up near 110 degrees. Palm Springs as well. We keep temperatures up near the triple digits in Los Angeles through Monday.

Now Downtown LA hit 112 degrees on Friday for just the third time on record since 1877. It was just one degree shy of that all-time record of 113 degrees that was set back in September of 2010. The forecast again is expected to be at 100 or hotter through Monday but average for this time of year is 84 degrees. Again this is kind of late in the season to be seeing heat like this.

Phoenix continues to plow through their records currently at 103 consecutive days at or hotter than 100 degrees and that completely shatters the previous stretch of 76 days that was set back in 1993. So again we're seeing this heat get more extreme and last longer.

That is a sign, a symptom of a fingerprint of climate change and our climate shift index from Climate Central tells us, you know, by how much and we're seeing for a lot of this heat there in the southwest for parts of southern California. We're seeing that this heat was made four to five times more likely due to climate change as this heat again becomes more extreme and just lasts longer.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: At least 14 people are dead in northern Vietnam after Typhoon Yagi made landfall on Saturday, according to Reuters. The tropical cyclone recorded maximum sustained winds their equivalent of a category 4 Atlantic hurricane. Yagi uprooted thousands of trees and damaged countless houses across northern Vietnam.

The storm has since been downgraded to a tropical depression but the risk of flash floods and landslides remain. And Yagi is also bearing down on Laos. It's expected to bring significant wind damage along the coast and up to 12 inches of rain through Sunday.

Donald Trump rallies a crowd in the battleground state of Wisconsin with familiar themes of Democrat bashing and lamenting his legal troubles. But, is his message resonating? We'll check in with a reporter there, that's next on CNN. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:26:39]

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

Donald Trump and Kamala Harris will face off at their first and possibly only presidential debate on Tuesday. Harris has been in Pennsylvania preparing for the matchup and hitting the campaign trail.

In Pittsburgh on Saturday she welcomed the endorsement of former Vice President Dick Cheney and his daughter former congresswoman Liz Cheney. Both campaigns are hoping the debate will help them win over some undecided voters. As new CNN polling shows the two candidates are running neck and neck in several key battleground states.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: If comrade Kamala Harris gets four more years you will be living a full-blown banana republic ruled by an anarchy and a tyranny. You're going to have something and it's not her, it's the people that surround her. They're scum, they're scum, and they want to take down our country. They are absolute garbage.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Now bashing Democrats was a big theme as Donald Trump addressed a rally in Wisconsin on Saturday. Trump said his July debate with Joe Biden showed that, quote, "stupid people are running the country."

In his two-hour speech Trump touched on his various legal problems saying he's been indicted more times than infamous mobster Al Capone. And he called for a change to the 25th Amendment saying it should be possible to remove a vice president if they, quote, "lie or engage in a conspiracy to cover up the incapacity of a president." Trump has repeatedly accused Kamala Harris of lying about President Biden's fitness for office.

All right for more I'm joined now by Anya van Wagtendonk, a Capitol Reporter at Wisconsin Public Radio. Great to have you on here.

So listen there's been plenty of attention being paid to Wisconsin with this race perhaps the closest ever at this point the path the White House, does it go through Wisconsin?

ANYA VAN WAGTENDONK, CAPITOL REPORTER, WISCONSIN PUBLIC RADIO: That's what both candidates say every time they come through and they come through quite a bit so there are a few important battleground states in this part of the states but Wisconsin is definitely one of them.

BRUNHUBER: So talk to me about how the mood there has changed since Harris became the nominee.

WAGTENDONK: It's been incredibly significant. As I mentioned candidates come through here kind of all year long but in the six or so weeks of the Harris campaign the enthusiasm among Democrats has been night and day truly. Her first campaign stop was in Wisconsin and then it was a significant change in enthusiasm and in crowd sizes and those have only increased. So it's really been a significant shift in excitement among the Democratic base here in Wisconsin.

BRUNHUBER: Is there a sense that she could actually take the state, do you think?

WAGTENDONK: So in the days leading up to Biden dropping off the ticket his polling was really starting to lag and Harris narrowed that gap pretty quickly and so we're going to see we get a lot of new in-state polling and some new ones is coming out this week but it seems like she has really been able to stay neck and neck which is pretty surprising for such a, you know, a short-lived campaign and so it seems like both campaigns are taking her chances quite seriously.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah absolutely. Listen so geographically there's been a lot of focus on western Wisconsin. Why is that?

WAGTENDONK: That's sort of a bit of a battleground district within this battleground state. It went for Obama several times. It went for Trump several times.

[05:30:08]

The congressional seat has swung recently, and so that's really seen as a place that Democrats can pick up some losses that they've made in recent years. It's a mix of rural areas and some more industrial areas. And so it really has elements of the bases that both parties need to be courting. And so we are seeing more attention paid over there.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, interesting. Both sides, you know, trying to turn out their bases for Trump. As you say, that's the rural areas for Harris. Milwaukee and reengaging black and Latino voters. Is that right?

WAGTENDONK: That's right. So urban areas will be particularly important for Democrats. Rural areas particularly important for the Trump campaign. Trump was just here yesterday, Saturday, really trying to gin up those -- those rural voters.

But both campaigns are making a play for them. That's really (technical difficulty) vice presidential nominee, Tim Walz is that he is coming from Minnesota right over the border, just over the border from western Wisconsin. And he has some of that appeal to rural voters who may be used to vote for Obama, used to vote more Democratic, have swung further to the right in recent years, but could have some -- some ground to gain among Democrats.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, for Democrats. I wonder what it'll take to get them to come back. Certainly Donald Trump has been hammering the economic message. We know nationwide that's the number one issue. What messages particularly do you think are resonating in Wisconsin as opposed to -- to elsewhere?

WAGTENDONK: Yeah, certainly economic issues really matter here, and that can look a little bit different, you know, here in the upper Midwest. It looks like really focusing on jobs and kind of bringing in infrastructural development. And in some areas of the state that feel kind of left behind.

So that's a bit of a pattern that we see in some of these battleground states in general. And then the other element will be sort of turning out bases in those cities among college students, among young people. And so that I think that message of kind of looking forward that the Harris campaign is really banking on that resonates a little bit with those voters as well. BRUNHUBER: Well, it'll be fascinating to see how it all shakes out. The importance of your state can't be understated, I guess. Listen, we'll hopefully check in with you again. Great to have you on, Anya van Wagtendonk. Thank you so much.

WAGTENDONK: Thank you.

BRUNHUBER: And tune in for special coverage of the "ABC News" presidential debate simulcast here on CNN. It'll air this Tuesday at 9 p.m. Eastern. And we'll replay the debate on Wednesday at 2 a.m. Eastern, 7 a.m. London. And again on 2 p.m. Eastern on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in London, 10 p.m. in Abu Dhabi.

Venezuela's presidential election this summer breathed new fire into the country's opposition, which claimed that their candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez, won the race against President Nicolas Maduro. Experts who analyzed the election results agreed. But months after the election, Gonzalez has now left the country. Journalist Stefano Pozzebon has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEFANO POZZEBON, JOURNALIST: Venezuela's opposition candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez, has left the country on Saturday night, claiming political asylum in Spain. His travels were announced by the country's vice president, Delcy Rodriguez, who said Venezuela granted the request for the sake of the tranquility and political peace of the country.

CNN was later able to confirm with Gonzalez's lawyer that he had indeed left the country. Gonzalez had been under an arrest mandate since earlier last week for charges related to terrorism and conspiracy in relation to his role as a political candidate in the contested presidential election on July 28. He had been in hiding since early on in August when the authoritarian president Nicolas Maduro publicly asked and demanded for his arrest.

Maduro was declared the winner of the Venezuelan presidential election on July 28 by the country's electoral authorities, which are widely seen as stacked with Maduro's allies, and they didn't provide any proof.

Gonzalez and his opposition had instead published tens of thousands of electoral tallies, claiming that they had won an uncontestable win and demanding a clean and democratic transition of power.

In the last few weeks, there has been an escalation of protest on behalf of the opposition and hard-fisted repression from Maduro's government, where at least 24 people have been killed and more than 2,400 have been arrested.

Gonzalez's move to Spain, when his daughter and two of his grandchildren reside, marks the beginning of a new chapter in Venezuela. Well, the Maduro government seems stronger and more cemented with the main opposition candidate contested, Maduro's power, now out of the country. [05:35:12]

For CNN, this is Stefano Pozzebon, Bogota.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Pope Francis spoke of the importance of the Catholic Church serving marginalized communities during his first full day in Papua New Guinea on Saturday. The Pope emphasized the need to protect women's rights and to curb tribal violence, both problematic in the island nation.

On Sunday morning, Francis held a large mass in a stadium in the capital, Port Moresby. He then traveled to the northwest of the country, where he addressed the issue of climate change. He'll continue his Asia trip with visits to East Timor and Singapore.

The CIA Director says an Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal is about 90% done. Just ahead, we'll explain why that doesn't mean a final agreement is close.

Plus, why the family of an American woman says they blame Israel for her death. The story of the 26-year-old's shooting is just ahead. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRUNHUBER: A developing story now at a crossing between Jordan and the West Bank. Israeli emergency services say three Israeli security guards were killed in a shooting at the Allenby Crossing, also known as the King Hussein Bridge border crossing. Israeli security officials say a terrorist opened fire on workers at the crossing and was neutralized. An Israeli official says the gunman was a Jordanian driver. The crossing has been closed, and Jordan has opened an investigation.

Lebanon says Israel targeted an ambulance team for the second time in 12 hours, killing three emergency workers and wounding two others. The Lebanese public health ministry says the crew was trying to contain a fire in the town of Froun. The Israeli military says the strike eliminated terrorists.

Meanwhile, Israel says dozens of rockets were launched from Lebanon into Israel early Saturday. In a statement, Hezbollah said the rockets were a response to Israeli strikes in Lebanon and, quote, "especially the attack on medical crews in the town of Froun."

[05:40:06]

Now, this comes as the family of an American woman who was shot and killed while protesting in the West Bank blames Israel for her death. Two witnesses say Aysenur Eygi was shot in the head by Israeli forces responding to a protest on Friday.

The governor of Nablus tells CNN that an autopsy confirms that Eygi was killed by an Israeli sniper's bullet. Now, CNN can't independently verify the autopsy results. The Israeli military has said its troops fired at an instigator of violent activity after rocks were thrown at them.

Elliott Gotkine joins us now from London with more. So, Elliott, lots of anger over the killing of that American activist. What is the latest?

ELLIOTT GOTKINE, JOURNALIST: Indeed, Kim, there has been, especially and perhaps understandably from the family of Eygi, who, as you say, has accused Israel of killing her, in fact saying that it was, in their words, an unlawful killing. And they've also called for an independent investigation saying that an investigation by Israel, which Israel says it will undertake and which the United States has asked Israel to undertake, would not be sufficient.

You also noted that we've heard from the governor of Nablus saying that an autopsy concluded that Eygi was killed by an Israeli sniper's bullet to the head and that we can't independently confirm that.

There's obviously anger also from the International Solidarity Movement, the pro-Palestinian NGO for which Eygi was volunteering. They have also laid the blame at Israel saying that forces were something like 200 meters away from them and that one of their members spotted a sniper on the roof.

There's also been comments from President Erdogan of Turkey. Eygi, although she is a U.S. citizen, is of Turkish descent. President Erdogan, who over the last few weeks has been likening Israeli actions in the Gaza Strip to those of the Nazis, accused Israel of heinously murdering Eygi.

Now, the IDF, for its part, is taking a more cautious approach than perhaps it has in the past. I'm reminded of the killing of the Al Jazeera Correspondent, Shireen Abu Akleh, a couple of years ago. Israel initially denied that it was responsible, blamed militant groups and then eventually accepted responsibility.

On this occasion, the IDF, as you say, is saying that it responded with fire towards a main instigator of violent activity who hurled rocks at the forces and posed a threat to them. It's worth noting that the International Solidarity Movement saying that none of its activists were throwing rocks or stones towards Israeli forces. The IDF continuing saying that it's looking into reports that a foreign national was killed as a result of shots fired in the area.

So, for now, the IDF neither accepting responsibility nor denying that it was responsible for this killing. And that's a situation we'd expect to have clarified in the coming hours and days.

Kim?

BRUNHUBER: All right, Elliott Gotkine in London. Thank you so much.

CIA Director Bill Burns says a ceasefire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas is about 90% complete, but that doesn't mean there could soon be an agreement. CNN Chief International Security Correspondent Nick Paton Walsh explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: The first joint speaking appearance by the Director of the CIA, Bill Burns, and his U.K. counterpart, Sir Richard Moore, the head of the Secret Intelligence Service, otherwise known as MI6, in the middle of Hampstead Heath, frankly, at a newspaper festival, a venue where they chose to try and express the solidarity between their two services.

But really key first on the agenda for Bill Burns, who spent so much of the past year trying to negotiate a hostage and ceasefire deal between Israel-Hamas, and an end to the Gaza conflict, is the pressing need for some kind of progress in that.

Now, I paraphrase here, but he referred to how 90% of the text appeared to be agreed of some sort of ceasefire deal, but pointed out that the remaining 10% was always going to be the hardest bit. He said that they hoped they would be able to put some sort of more detailed proposal forward in the coming days. No precise time frame there, but also said how there needed to be, quote, "political will" on both sides for progress to happen there.

But really, the room he was in, pausing for a moment of applause, to acknowledge what was referred to as his extraordinary personal effort over the past days.

But also key on the agenda as well, the Ukraine war, one of two conflicts that dominated much of what they said. And they took the opportunity, both the British and American intelligence heads, to, well, essentially endorse, to pay compliment to, initially, what seemed to be a reckless bid by Ukraine to invade Russia's border areas. Hear what they said.

BILL BURNS, CIA DIRECTOR: I mean, I think what you've seen first, as Richard said, is the Kursk offensive is a significant tactical achievement. It's not only been a boost in Ukrainian morale, it has exposed some of the vulnerabilities of Putin's Russia and of his military.

[05:45:03]

WALSH: And also, too, the issue of United States, British, NATO weapons supply, the need for that to persist for Ukraine in the months ahead. But also, too, exactly what Russia's allies are indeed giving it. And they were asked about the possibility that China might decide, despite at this point mostly providing what's referred to as dual-use, non-real military equipment, that China might decide to cross the line and perhaps provide direct munitions and weapons to the Russians. Here's what they had to say on that.

BURNS: I don't think either of us see direct evidence today, as we sit here, of the provision of weapons and munitions from China to Russia for use in the war effort in Ukraine. But we see lots of things just short of that, as Richard said, in terms of dual-use items, the kind of things that have enabled Putin over the course of the last 18 months or so to significantly rebuild his defense industrial base, and that poses a real danger.

WALSH: Now, a lot covered in a short period of time there and I think also, too, China looming briefly, as they suggested, that they haven't really seen a stronger leader in China since Xi Jinping than Chairman Mao decades ago. But ultimately, a bid by both intelligence services to show their unity, how they work together, the challenges they face. They penned an editorial in the "Financial Times" just that morning, talking about the extraordinary challenge to the international world order that they're seeing indeed at the moment.

But still the very pivotal moments in both the hostage negotiations and ceasefire talks around the Gaza conflict, and also too, the key moment in the war in Ukraine, forefront in this rare appearance.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Ukraine and Russia launched deadly air attacks on their border regions overnight. Ukraine's military says at least two people were killed and four others injured in the country's northeastern Sumy region. The air force shot down a missile and more than a dozen attack drones launched from Russia.

Russian media is reporting an attack in Belgorod wounded three people, and that includes two children who were in serious condition after suffering head injuries.

Protests across France after President Emmanuel Macron names a conservative politician as the new prime minister. Thousands of left- wing protesters marched against the appointment of 73-year-old Michel Barnier on Saturday.

The appointment comes after a two-month-long search for a new Prime Minister. Demonstrators are accusing Macron of stealing the elections. The current National Assembly is divided into three blocks, setting up the long search for a new leader.

All right, up next, a recap of the top sports headlines, including a preview of today's highly anticipated U.S. Open Men's Final. Please stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:51:45]

BRUNHUBER: A woman in southwest Florida says she was walking her dog when she was attacked by an alligator. 84-year-old Del Boppel, tossed her Shih Tzu into the air as the gator lunged at her, biting her legs and fingers. She says she barely had time to react, but punched the alligator in the face before it backed off.

Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DEL BOPPEL, SURVIVED ALLIGATOR ATTACK: All of a sudden I had a premonition. I'm telling you. It was like uh oh. It was like a torpedo. I have never seen anything move that fast in all my life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: She went on to say she's in good spirits and looking forward to reuniting with her dog.

All right, well there's a new queen of Queens, New York. Aryna Sabalenka overcame a slow start and a raucous crowd to win her

first U.S. Open title, her second Grand Slam this year.

CNN Sports Correspondent Carolyn Manno joins me now. So Carolyn, a bit of a vindication for her, right?

CAROLYN MANNO, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. You know, Sabalenka may have been the favorite with oddsmakers, but the favorite for fans inside Arthur Ashe Stadium on Saturday was her opponent, New York native Jessica Pegula. But Sabalenka returning to the scene of one of her biggest disappointments, where she lost to another American, Coco Gauff, 12 months ago.

With Sabalenka admitting afterwards, she was a little bit shaken by all of the support that Gauff got. That was not the case on Saturday. Pegula gave it her all in her first major final, but Sabalenka was just too good, grinding out a straight set to win 7-5, 7-5.

The 26-year-old now adding a U.S. Open title to her back-to-back Aussie crowns and she spoke to our Andy Scholes on center court afterwards.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Three Grand Slam titles now. What do you want your legacy to be one day?

ARYNA SABALENKA, 2024 U.S. OPEN CHAMPION: That's a big question and probably I'm not ready to answer it right now, but I definitely want to be one of the greatest and -- I mean, I think everyone wants that but of course I want it, but I'm just trying to focus, you know, on improving myself every day and let's see how far we can get in this sport.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MANNO: It's now up to Taylor Fritz to carry the flag for the United States. Fritz, the first American man to reach the final since Andy Roddick in 2006. He's trying to become the first to win since Roddick in 2003.

Standing in his way is world number one Jannik Sinner who's also trying to add a second Grand Slam trophy to his name after his Aussie Open win to start the year.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JANNIK SINNER, WORLD NO. 1: We went just day by day, really with not so many expectations. Trying to find my game, trying to find our rhythm, just trying to find confidence throughout the days. I'm happy to be in the final here. It's a special tournament. So let's see what's coming Sunday.

TAYLOR FRITZ, WORLD NO. 12: I have a feeling that I'm going to come out and play really well and when I play good tennis, it's -- it's -- I think that level is good enough to win.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MANNO: It's also the first Sunday in the NFL after thrillers in Kansas City and Brazil to start the season. There are 13 games on the schedule today. Among the most notable, the Chicago Bears' first overall pick, quarterback Caleb Williams making his debut at home against Tennessee.

Last year's number two pick and rookie of the year C. J. Stroud leads the Texans into Indianapolis. The Cowboys in Cleveland finally trying to get over the hump and back to their first Super Bowl since 1996 and the day ends with the Detroit Lions coming off their best season since 1991. They host the L.A. Rams.

[05:55:13]

In the WNBA, the season is coming to an early end for Angel Reese. This guy, standout rookie, suffering a wrist injury in Friday's loss to the L.A. Sparks. Reese posting on social media saying, quote, "Although this is God's timing and not mine, I am finally able to give myself a physical and mental break."

Reese was a rebounding machine her first year in Chicago averaging double digit points in boards and setting multiple league records.

And finally this morning the Paralympic Games end on this Sunday, but not before a record shattering performance. Look at Brazil's Rayane Soares da Silva, the 27-year-old winning gold in the women's 400-meter T13 with a time of 53.55 seconds on Saturday blowing away the world record that had stood since 95 by nearly a full second. Da Silva also topping her personal best by more than two and a half seconds.

Impressive performance there. One of so many that we have seen, Kim, over the course of these Paralympic Games. They have been fantastic as Paris finally comes to a close.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, I love that pose there at the end with the flag. That's great. Thanks so much, Carolyn. Appreciate that.

The Mega Millions Lottery here in the U.S. is inspiring daydreams of easy money. The jackpot rolled over after no one took the big prize from the drawing on Friday night. So now the take for picking five correct numbers plus the Mega Ball on Tuesday will be $800 million. The seventh largest ever winning tickets were sold for two drawings this year. One person claimed $560 million before taxes. But no one has claimed a prize of more than a billion dollars for a ticket sold in New Jersey. Good luck.

That wraps this hour of CNN Newsroom. I'm Kim Brunhuber. For viewers in North America, "CNN This Morning" is next. For the rest of the world it is, "Connecting Africa."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)