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CNN International: Harris Campaign in Pennsylvania, Walz Visits Wisconsin; CNN Meets Injured Ukrainian Soldiers on Hospital Train; DR Congo to Deliver Verdict in Alleged Coup Attempt Trial; Walz and Vance to Face-Off in VP Debate October 1 on CBS; Pope Francis Wraps up Tour in Singapore; More Oasis Tickets on Sale after Sky High Prices. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired September 13, 2024 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Take a look at what happens next. And no more debates Former U.S. President Donald Trump says he will not face Vice President Kamala Harris for a second time. And a stern warning to NATO from Moscow, what Vladimir Putin says could put the alliance on a collision course with Russia.

And we begin this hour with a massive strike at Boeing. 33,000 unionized workers at the troubled plane maker have rejected a tentative deal. The new contract included pay raises of at least 25 percent it's worth noting, Boeing estimates its own annual contribution to America's economy at $79 billion. And the aircraft giant has suffered major problems in recent years, including two fatal crashes.

CNN's Business and Politics Correspondent Vanessa Yurkevich is following all of this, and she joins us now from New York. Good to see you this morning. The International Association of Machinists say the rejected deal is the best it's ever negotiated with Boeing. So why did union members turn it down?

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, well, 95 percent of union members didn't agree with the union leadership. They voted down the deal, and 96 percent voted to go on strike, and that is exactly what we are seeing early this morning as thousands of Boeing union members are out on the picket lines. It's really hard to say what the single issue is. But listen to the President of the Union who spoke just last night after this historic union vote.

OK. And we don't have that shot for you, but essentially, what he was saying is that they have to go back to the drawing board, because they don't really know what the main issue is. It could be a couple things that a lot of these union members feel like in previous contracts. They didn't get exactly what they wanted.

They've been dealing with higher inflation. And Fred, if you remember, a lot of other unions and other industries, like the auto industry, really walked away with exceptional contracts, and they are looking at those unions saying, hey, wait a minute. Did we do as well as them? But as you mentioned, this is going to be potentially, if this strike

drags on, a hit to the U.S. economy. This could affect suppliers. This will affect deliveries of planes to airlines. But I just want to caution people, this will not affect passengers of airlines right now. This is sort of what could happen down the line if you're flying on an airplane now, everything is all good. But as this strike drags on, it could affect the airlines in terms of getting the planes that they have ordered from Boeing.

WHITFIELD: Oh, my Goodness. And Boeing is saying that it's returning to the negotiating table, at least it's eager to do so. Is that likely to happen anytime soon?

YURKEVICH: They want to get there. They want to get back there as soon as possible. Because this is not good for Boeing. The union is kind of still working out the strike details right now, it's just the morning after. But this is potentially going to be a long road, just because we don't know what sort of the single issue is for this contract they offered, and the deal was 25 percent in wage increases.

We know that the union asked for 40 percent. We know that the union also wanted a return to traditional pensions. They didn't get that. They got more in their 401K instead. And sort of a big issue that the union is very, very interested in. And what was offered is that if this deal was ratified, if it was a yes vote, they were going to get the next plane production in Washington state, and that would have been really important for job security for these workers.

That's now up in the air, Fred, because that was contingent on this deal being a yes vote. It was a no vote so now they're going to have to work through that. Can they get that plane back in production to provide job security for these union members who are now on strike?

WHITFIELD: All right. Vanessa Yurkevich, keep us posted. Thanks so much. All right, both presidential candidates are back on the campaign trail. Vice President Kamala Harris heads out soon for rallies in the key battleground State of Pennsylvania, as she continues to capitalize on her post debate momentum.

During a campaign rally in North Carolina Thursday Harris challenged Donald Trump to a debate rematch. She also criticized Trump's policy responses in Tuesday's debate.

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CNN's Edward-Isaac Dovere is joining us right now from Washington, D.C. Good to see you.

EDWARD-ISSAC DOVERE, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Good to see you.

WHITFIELD: All right. So, tell us more about the Harris campaign's thinking right now. Where it is, the campaign will focus more on impact than policy?

DOVERE: Yeah, look for the Harris campaign when they look at this race now, they see as a lot of things that are good signs. But so far, looking at their own internal numbers, they see a race that is still very much up in the air, and in fact, maybe they're still really a little bit behind.

It's not just Harris saying that she's the underdog that they -- some people on the campaign saying to me that they think that the election was held tomorrow, Donald Trump would still win. But they see a lot of opportunity to build up support among undecided voters who are saying that they want to hear more about Kamala Harris, and they've already made their minds up about Donald Trump.

So, the way that the campaign is going to try to capitalize on that is by doing everything they can to keep that good vibe, energy, enthusiasm going from the summer that has waned a little bit over the last 2.5 weeks, doing things like bringing Barack Obama back onto the trail, like there's talk about trying to get Taylor Swift and Beyonce to be doing concerts. Anything that they can do and-in-that-way, and not getting too bogged down in their minds with giving big speeches or more policy rollouts. It's all about this enthusiasm and energy.

WHITFIELD: Right. And to underscore -- you know the Harris campaign is telling supporters; they are the underdogs. So, her supporters, obviously are in. They're the ones who are -- you know packing in the auditoriums and stadiums. But what is the strategy in places like Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, where she needs to build more backing?

DOVERE: Well, Wisconsin and Michigan, by their internal numbers, are actually two of the states that they feel best about not feeling like anything's done and secure for her. But it's the other states where they feel like they need to especially think about building inroads among Latinos, among African American voters who had been drifting away from Joe Biden earlier in the year, that she has continued to consolidate over the course of the last 50 days or so.

And then also going to voters who, again, are those undesigned voters, some of them Republicans, some of them other groups, people who are not likely Democratic voters, and a lot of them people who are just disengaged from the political process and finding ways to bring them in and make them enthusiastic about voting.

Because the Harris campaign looks at this, they know that there is going to be a strong and devoted turnout for Donald Trump. They need the voters to overwhelm that in enough of the state scattered 270 votes. One person saying to me, this is an unconventional campaign. You've got to do unconventional things.

WHITFIELD: All right, just a month and a half or so to go right? Edward-Isaac Dovere, great to see it. Thank you so much.

DOVERE: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Donald Trump, meantime, is heading out west in about three hours. The former president will face the press in California and then head to Las Vegas. At Thursday's rally in Tucson, Arizona, he attacked the ABC debate moderators and put his own positive spin on Tuesday's event. He also made it clear that he would not take part in another debate. On the policy front, he unveiled a new proposal to get rid of taxes on overtime wages.

And Russia says it's expelling six British diplomats, accusing them of spying. Moscow says it has detected what it calls signs of intelligence and subversive work. It hasn't provided any proof, and the announcement comes as London and the U.S. consider allowing Ukraine to strike targets deep inside Russia.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is now in Washington to discuss the issue with U.S. President Joe Biden. The Kremlin, meantime, says it's sending a clear message to the west. It's telling Ukraine's allies to think twice before letting Kyiv strike deeper inside Russia with Western made arms. Russian President Vladimir Putin says, if Ukraine says, gets NATO's go ahead, the alliance could be on a military collision course with Moscow.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT: This is their direct involvement, and this, of course, would in a significant way change the very essence, the very nature of the conflict. It will mean that NATO countries, the United States and European countries are at war with Russia.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, we're live in Washington with CNN's Kevin Liptak. Good to see you this morning. So, as we've been reporting, the U.S. President, UK Prime Minister discussing the possibility of lifting restrictions on how Ukraine uses Western made weapons in Russia? Could that stark warning from Vladimir Putin have an impact on those discussions?

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KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, certainly I think it will factor in. Because, of course, President Biden, every time a new capability comes on the table when it comes to Ukraine, the first thing at the top of his mind is the potential for escalation with Russia, and certainly that's something he very much wants to avoid.

And I think the revelation this week that Iran is providing Russia with its own ballistic missiles only lends some complications to this decision making, because, of course, the U.S. has this great fear in the Middle East that Iran could potentially target American troops and create a broader conflict there.

So, you do see this connective tissue between these two conflicts. But the fact that this conversation is happening at all, I think gives you a good indication of how much pressure President Biden is under to ease some of these restrictions on the American and Western long-range missiles that have been provided to Ukraine.

Currently, they're only allowed to be used within Ukraine's borders, but President Zelenskyy says that he needs to fire them deep into Russia to help his country win the war. And there has been a divide among American officials on this topic.

On the one hand, you have people who are concerned about the risk for escalation. You also hear people who wonder about the effectiveness of this strategy. And you heard the Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin give voice to this last week when he said that Russia has already moved some of its key targets outside of the range of these missiles, and also making the point that the supply of these weapons is not limitless.

But on the other hand, you have members of Congress, including some senior Democrats on the Foreign Relations Committee who say that fears of escalation are not necessarily founded, that the risk of escalation hasn't necessarily been borne out over the last two years, and that Ukraine needs this capability in order to win the war.

And so, this will be a key topic of discussion when the president sits down with Keir Starmer later today. What American officials say is that he isn't planning to make any new announcements or decisions today, but certainly it will be a topic of discussion.

They're tamping down on expectations that the president could allow the American attack on weapons to be fired deep into Russia, but he also has the option of allowing the UK and France who have their own long-range weapons to allow those missiles to be fired into Russia, and that's something that they will discuss today.

Both of these men, President Biden and Keir Starmer, dispatched their top diplomats to Ukraine this week to hear directly from Volodymyr Zelenskyy about why this capability was necessary, and certainly those conversations will be reported back in the meeting at the White House later this afternoon.

WHITFIELD: All right. Kevin Liptak, thank you so much. All right, CNN has gained exclusive access to a medical evaluation train used by the Ukrainian army to transport injured soldiers from the front line. The hospital on wheels operates in complete secrecy, which is why CNN is not revealing its route or identifying its staff by their full names. Christiane Amanpour speaks to the people who helped keep the train running and the injured soldiers being cared for.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF ANCHOR (voice-over): On a hot late summer morning departure time is fast approaching at this railway station in Ukraine, but this is no ordinary train. It's a hospital on wheels evacuating dozens of wounded military personnel away from the Eastern Front as Russia's brutal offensive grinds on.

Paramedics, carefully loading patient after patient, many of them unconscious, onto repurposed carriages. It's a highly organized special operation, and it's never been seen before. CNN gained unprecedented and exclusive access to what so far has remained a closely guarded military secret.

Before the train moves off, I meet 35-year-old Oleksandr, wounded by a drone strike, which has caused him to go deaf in one ear, his call sign is positive, but he doesn't feel it.

OLEKSANDR, UKRAINIAN SOLDIER: Very tired, but these are hard times. And we must keep fighting no matter how hard it is.

AMANPOUR: Do you feel that you have enough people, enough weapons to defend?

OLEKSANDR: No.

AMANPOUR: You don't have enough.

OLEKSANDR: Not enough, no. There aren't enough people and there definitely aren't enough weapons.

AMANPOUR (voice-over): As the train rolls on, we make our way to the intensive care unit, where several soldiers are on life support. Bed after bed of broken and battered bodies, lives shattered in an instant.

[08:15:00]

90 percent of the wounds being treated here are from shrapnel, and yet many of these patients know they will be patched up just to be sent back to the front as soon as possible. This train and its cargo sum up Ukraine's state of military affairs, mostly ordinary citizens who have answered the call, outmanned, outgunned by Russia, and yet still putting up a hell of a fight. Nurse Yulia makes this journey twice a week.

AMANPOUR: How do you feel being in here with these very badly wounded soldiers? How does it make you feel?

AMANPOUR (voice-over): I'm an empathetic person, so it's difficult, she tells me. But you have to switch off your feelings at the moment of work and later you can reflect. And the story of frontline morale is on display here too. If electrician Oleksandr was feeling down after 18 months fighting this brutal war, Stanislaw, who signed up in March, is still full of patriotic fervor. He can still summon a smile, even though he has shrapnel in his body and damage to his lungs.

STANISLAW, UKRAINIAN SOLDIER: Personally, I was ready for it. I was ready to take the shower stall, the good sheets and the bed, the good conditions that I had at home for a foxhole. I knew where I was going and what I was doing.

OLEKSANDR, UKRAINIAN ARMED FORCES MEDIC: The most difficult part is evacuation from the front line. Combat medics who work on the front are dying, just like soldiers.

AMANPOUR (voice-over): As these carriages rumble on through fields of gold, think for a moment of history repeating itself in Europe, when thousands of ambulance trains evacuated casualties from World War I's trenches, more than a million to the UK alone.

Tonight, darkness descends as we arrive at the destination, and suddenly there's activity everywhere again. As ambulances line up, collecting and dispatching to hospitals across the country. On the platform, the railway chief describes his pride and his sorrow.

OLEKSANDR PERTSOVSKYI, CEO, PASSENGER OPERATIONS, UKRAINIAN RAILWAYS: You see the kids who are saying goodbye to their dads, who are heading towards the front lines. So, seeing those same guys coming back effectively unconscious or with amputations. It feels like the price of the war is incredible.

AMANPOUR (voice-over): Like a conveyor belt industrial scale conversion of healthy young men and women into this and yet, as one of them told us, Ukraine is strong and motivated. While Russia has quantity, we have quality, and we will win. Christiane Amanpour CNN, Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Palestinians have flocked to UN shelters hoping for safety. After the break, how Israel defends its strike on a UN agency shelter that killed dozens? The details straight ahead. And why three Americans could be sentenced to death today in the Democratic Republic of Congo, that story and more next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:20:00]

WHITFIELD: A shakeup within Israel's Defense Forces, Intelligence Commander Brigadier General Yossi Sariel resigns after being accused of failing to prevent the October 7th attacks. Sariel's resignation comes on the heels of the IDF's recognition and approval of a strike on a large shelter in Central Gaza that killed at least 18 people, including six UN employees.

The IDF defends the strike, claiming three of six UNWRA staff were members of Hamas, but did not immediately provide any evidence. At least 44 other people were wounded. CNN's Nic Robertson is joining us now from Tel Aviv with more on this. Nic, so what more can you tell us about the commander's resignation?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yeah, he's stepping down. He'll be in position until a replacement is found for him. I don't think any of this is a surprise. Ahead of military intelligence quit his job back in April, pending replacement.

The significance about Brigadier General Yossi Sariel's position was, he was in charge of the intelligence unit that was supposed to if it had done its job correctly, as the country had expected it to. And this is what he says in his resignation letter, that he let himself down his own standards, that he let his subordinates down, that he let his commanders down and but in effect, let the country down.

But his unit, the intelligence unit, 8200 had specialists around Gaza monitoring Hamas' activities, and it's been well documented over the past year that some of those intelligence operatives, low level intelligence operatives, were seeing activity by Hamas that concerned them, that looked like training and rehearsals for some kind of operation months before October 7th, and they passed that up the line, and nothing apparently happened about it.

Well, the military's own internal investigation has been going on. It's come up with some preliminary findings. But I think that Sariel is announcing that he is stepping down will not shock and surprise people. There's been a lot of focus on politicians here, like the prime minister, who is also widely held in public opinion to be responsible for the failings of intelligence and readiness for Hamas' October 7th attack.

That the military has decided to get on with its own investigation because it needs to learn now, because it's still in battle and fighting now, where the prime minister has pushed off an investigation that would more broadly bring in politicians like himself into the questions of, how did this happen? Why did it happen? And who should be held accountable? But Brigadier General Sariel announcing he is stepping down.

WHITFIELD: All right. Nic Robertson, thank you so much from Tel Aviv. All right, 50 people including three Americans could be sentenced to death today, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. A military court is expected to deliver its verdict over what the Congolese Army says was a coup attempt, the botched coup led by a little-known opposition figure targeted the Presidential Palace and a close ally of the president.

CNN's Victoria Rubadiri, is following developments live for us from Nairobi, Kenya. Tell us more about what we're expecting to happen?

VICTORIA RUBADIRI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. So, that verdict should be rendered any time from now those 50 defendants have some pretty serious charges up against them, from murder to terrorism and illegal possession of arms. Beyond the three Americans who have been accused in that case are Belgium Canadian and British nationals as well.

But interestingly enough, as we followed this trial that started back in June, was the fact that motive didn't come out as clearly. The question still abounds as to what drove Christian Malanga to such extreme lengths? Did he act alone? Was there a hidden hand in government, for instance, that was aiding him in his calls? But what we heard during the hearings from some of the defendants was he was solely responsible for the planning of that particular incident.

[08:25:00]

Many of them saying that he threatened them to either join the cause or be killed. But the bigger question today will be whether those defendants will be sentenced to death? Interestingly, back in March this year, the death penalty was reinstated in DRC, and this was after an over 20-year moratorium was lifted.

Authorities there saying the reason why they brought it back was to deal with the surge in violent attacks, particularly in the eastern part of the country, so to determine whether the likelihood of a death penalty being meted out today can be determined on past cases back in July. 25 DRC, soldiers were sentenced to death, and in August, 26 individuals were also sentenced to death by the military court. So, if that's anything to go by that's something we'll be watching as this verdict is being rendered.

WHITFIELD: All right, keep us posted. Victoria Rubadiri, thank you so much. All right, we're getting a rare look inside North Korea's Nuclear Program. The reclusive nation has released images of Leader Kim Jong-Un touring a uranium enrichment facility. State media says the site is used to produce weapons grade material for Pyongyang's growing arsenal.

Kim pledged to quote exponentially expand his nuclear inventory during a speech on Monday celebrating the country's founding. It's not clear when or where these newly released pictures were taken. All right, still to come, Trump says there will be no more debates for him as Kamala Harris hits him on policy, we'll have more on the U.S. presidential race next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Tuesday's high stakes debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump will likely be the only time the two candidate's face-off before Election Day. Harris will travel to the critical battleground state of Pennsylvania today as she tries to capitalize on her momentum.

The vice president says she and her Republican rival owe it to voters to debate again. But Trump says he will not participate in another showdown. The former president was in Arizona on Thursday, where he once again disputed the 2020 election result.

[08:30:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I got more votes than any sitting president in the history of our country, and they said we lost, but we didn't lose. We never going to let that happen again in this country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And we know, of course, that President Joe Biden won more than 81 million votes in 2020 while Trump won just over 74 million. Thomas Gift is the Director at the Center on U.S. Politics at University College London, and he joins us now live from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

All right, good to see you again, Professor. So, no third debate says Trump this after he claims he won the debate and he doesn't need it. So, this exemplifies also how he digs in on falsehoods from that to migrants eating people's pets? Is this a window into the kind of darkness or desperation we may see over the next month and a half?

THOMAS GIFT, UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, LONDON: Well, thanks so much for having me, Fredricka, it's great to be with you. Absolutely, I mean, this is typical Trump, spewing falsehoods, spewing lies, trying to relitigate the 2020 election, all of that's not doing him much good. You know, one of the big criticisms coming out of the debate is that

he didn't stay on message. That is, he didn't stick to policy, namely the economy and immigration, where a lot of experts think that he may have an advantage. Instead, he just seems very concerned about how he is being presented. Got knocked off his game considerably whenever Kamala Harris pointed out that his rallies were not quite as grand as he likes to say. So, yeah, this is -- this is typical Trump.

WHITFIELD: So, what do you interpret -- you know by those -- you know so called undecided or independent voters who say they want to hear more on policy from Harris after the debate? I mean, this one you just said -- you know Trump escaped even giving any detail about policy or position. How do you interpret what these undecided or independent voters are saying?

GIFT: Well, one thing to keep in mind is that even though the debate had some 60 plus million watchers, still most voters didn't see it live. So, they'll just watch a few selective clips through the lens of partisan media and through the spin of the campaign. So that probably blunts the impact of a Harris victory, to an extent.

And of course, voters who watch the debate are disproportionately politically activated, and most have already made up their minds on Harris and Trump. But still, you're right that there's a certain fraction of voters. It was about 30 percent before the debate who said that they just don't know enough about Harris's policies.

She did release on her campaign website last week a number of different positions that she's taking on the climate, on education, on health care, on immigration. At this point, though, I'm not sure if it really makes sense for Harris to become too specific to some extent, maybe that only risk alienating some voters.

WHITFIELD: So, both candidates do plan to spend more time in Pennsylvania, as I just said. You know, Harris is heading there today in Pennsylvania. So, what kind of enthusiasm are you seeing there in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania?

GIFT: Yeah. No, I'm sort of in the center of Trump country, a little bit south of Harrisburg. But you don't have to go too far to be in a place where there's a lot of energy for Harris. You know one of the most interesting things that I can say is that it is impossible now to turn on the television and not see an advertisement for Trump, an advertisement for Harris or one of their Super PACs.

I mean, is just constant ad after ad after ad. I'm staying here with my family, and they've gotten roughly 10 mailers in the last couple of days from one of the two candidates, and all of them are very negative. All of them are vitriolic. So, there is a lot of energy and resources being devoted, especially toward Pennsylvania. I think that that makes sense, because probably where Pennsylvania goes is where the election goes.

WHITFIELD: So, what would be your recommendation to the Harris campaign, as they zero in on certain parts of Pennsylvania, knowing that Trump has a lot of support in the central and western portions of the state?

GIFT: Yeah, absolutely. I mean James Carville, the Political Strategist once called Pennsylvania, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and then Alabama in between. I'm really in the Alabama part at the moment. I do think that Harris can't kind of write off all rural voters, however.

And I think that she's not doing that, which is something that Hillary Clinton was criticized for doing in 2016 and to an extent of Biden, in 2020. She's opened a number of new offices, roughly 50 across the state headquarters, specifically targeting kind of rural voters and voters in some of the suburbs, so I think that that's absolutely going to be hugely important for her.

WHITFIELD: All right. Professor Thomas Gift always great to see you. Thank you so much.

GIFT: Thank you.

[08:35:00]

WHITFIELD: All right, the U.S. Justice Department is expected to announce criminal charges against the Iranian backed hackers who allegedly targeted Former President Donald Trump's campaign. That's according to four sources who add the charges could come as soon as next week.

According to U S officials, the hackers stole internal Trump campaign documents and shared them with news organizations. As CNN has been reporting, officials believe the hackers work for Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Zach Cohen is joining me live now from Washington with more on all this. So, what more do you know?

ZACHARY COHEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yeah Fred, we're learning more details about how the U.S. government is really trying to fight back against this threat of foreign interference and foreign influence targeting the 2024, presidential election.

And specifically, they're using criminal charges to try to push back against what they've described as a persistent Iranian effort to undermine and influence the outcome of the 2024 race. And look, this dates back to a breach of the Trump campaign that we learned about several weeks ago.

It was a spear phishing operation conducted by Iranian hackers, according to U.S. officials, and they ultimately were able to infiltrate the Trump campaign's email account and obtain these private, sensitive campaign documents they then tried to leak via multiple news organizations that we haven't seen those documents surface publicly yet.

But this is another reminder that the U.S. government is really grappling with this problem of foreign adversary -- adversaries trying to sow distrust and so discord within the United States and taking advantage of that polarizing political atmosphere that we are currently witnessing play a big role in the 2024 presidential election.

And I want to be clear too, it's not just Russia. U.S. officials are constant -- or not just Iran U.S. officials are constantly reminding the public in this week's leading up to Election Day that Iran, Russia and even China are taking steps to try to do -- using various tactics to try to undermine our political system in the democratic process. Take a listen to what Mattew Olson. He's the top national security official at the Justice Department, what he said just yesterday about these foreign efforts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATTHEW OLSON, ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: Our adversaries are actively seeking to covertly influence voters and to undermine our democracy authoritarian regimes. So, we're talking about Russia, Iran and China, primarily.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COHEN: He is making clear there that these foreign adversaries are very intent on doing anything they can to influence our political decision-making process and trying to get their preferred candidate back into the White House, whether that be Kamala Harris or be Donald Trump.

We know Russia, according to U.S. officials, once again, prefers Donald Trump for President. Iran has indicated through their actions that they may prefer Kamala Harris. But still, this foreign adversary role in our election process, regardless of your politics, is something that the Justice Department is really trying to stress is an apolitical issue.

So, we'll continue to see them try to publicly warn Americans before they go to the voting booth that they -- foreign officers are trying to manipulate their decision-making process and to hopefully check their information to make sure they're getting it from credible sources, not from potentially malicious actors.

WHITFIELD: And then, you know we'd reported that -- you know the target was Trump's campaign. Do we know which aides were targeted? And do we know -- we said that information was also provided to news networks.

COHEN: We previously reported that actually the way they got access into the Trump campaign and the way they targeted it is actually via an email account belonging to Roger Stone. You remember Roger Stone a long-time Republican operative. He's been a Trump ally for a long time, including his involvement in efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

But Roger Stone appears to have been hacked himself. The hackers then used Roger Stone's personal email account to then try to target Trump campaign officials, and we don't know exactly who within the Trump campaign ultimately clicked what appears to be a malicious link and gave those hackers access to a trove of campaign documents. But that is something the FBI has been looking intently into, and has

been briefing the Trump campaign and Trump himself on at every step of their investigation. And it seems, based on this announcement that our sources say is coming, they've collected enough evidence to know who is behind the hack and leak operation? And who was operating on behalf of the Iranian government?

WHITFIELD: All right, Zach Cohen, thanks so much. All right, Pope Francis is heading back to Rome. Details of the Pontiff's tour across Asia Pacific straight ahead. And a second chance for Oasis fans, as tickets go on sale for two extra London shows.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:40:00]

WHITFIELD: August 2024, set a new monthly temperature record, capping Earth's hottest summer since global records began in the 1800s according to a NASA report published this week, while it remains difficult to predict when and where natural disasters will strike, one company in Abu Dhabi is turning to AI to revolutionize how we respond to them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 ignition and ripped off Falcon 9.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): This year, a Falcon 9 rocket carried more than 100 satellites into space. One of those belongs to Space 42 it's the first of nine that will form a constellation around the Earth.

HASAN AL HOSANI, MANAGING DIRECTOR, SPACE42: You see the previous or the points at the bottom there.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): The Abu Dhabi based satellite and technology company aims to revolutionize how we monitor and respond to natural disasters.

HOSANI: Space42 is becoming this vertical that, as we say, has the upstream, which is the satellites in space, the midstream, the communication of those satellites with the Earth, and then finally, the downstream where we receive this data, analyze this data and provide insights based on these different data.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): Space42 satellites are equipped with state-of-the-art sensors and AI powered analytics to monitor and respond to natural disasters in real time. This technology was put to the test during recent events.

HOSANI: What we are looking at exactly right now is the earthquake that happened in Turkey and Syria last year, immediately acquiring the data and applying artificial intelligence on top of the data to start analyzing the impact on the ground.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah, can you zoom in on that stadium? Just see, I'm so curious about the level of detail as well.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): The system is actually comparing the data imagery before the event and after the event, so it can immediately recognize the areas impacted. What source of impact is there on the urban area, on the road network and everything?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, Pope Francis is headed home after the longest and farthest trip he has taken since becoming Leader of the Catholic Church. Earlier on Friday, the Pontiff met with young people at an inter religious meeting and urged them to take risks. Pope Francis adds that every faith is a way to arrive at God. Across the region, large crowds came to hear the Pope's message of hope and interfaith understanding. CNN's Christopher Lamb has more from Singapore.

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CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Pope Francis has concluded the longest trip of his papacy, a 12-day marathon visiting Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore. For the 87-year-old Pope, it's been a chance to highlight key themes of his papacy fraternity, protection of the environment, interreligious harmony.

[08:45:00]

POPE FRANCIS: The church desires to increase inter religious dialog in this way, prejudices can be eliminated, and a climate of mutual respect and trust can grow.

LAMB (voice-over): And an opportunity to showcase his vision of a church that goes to the peripheries. Despite health difficulties and his use of a wheelchair, the missionary Pope, seemingly energized by his time in the region, getting a rock star welcome wherever he went. And in East Timor, almost half the population attending a papal mass. Asia is an increasingly influential in the Catholic Church, and Francis in a region of geopolitical importance.

In the background China, the Vatican long working to rebuild ties with Beijing and support Catholics in the atheist state. Francis in Asia, underlining that the Catholic Church is not European or Western, but global. Francis still has plenty of challenges. In East Timor, the scourge of clerical sexual abuse involving high profile members of the clergy. The Pope urging leaders to tackle the problem.

FRANCIS: We're all called to do everything possible to prevent every kind of abuse and guarantee a healthy and peaceful childhood for all young people.

LAMB (voice-over): This visit likely to be remembered as the Pope's most ambitious and pointing to the future of the church. Christopher Lamb CNN, Singapore.

(END VIDEOTAPE) WHITFIELD: And Elon Musk well, he likes to be first in many things, but could he become the world's first trillionaire? And in just a few years, we'll look at how it might happen after this.

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WHITFIELD: All right. Well, it's already been a pretty good week for Elon Musk, his company SpaceX had the first privately funded spacewalk yesterday, and now a new report suggests the billionaire is on track to becoming the world's first trillionaire by 2027. Musk has amassed out of this world fortune through his companies Tesla and SpaceX. CNN's Matt Egan has the new reporting on how did this happen, Matt?

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Well Fredricka, if Elon Musk hits this almost unthinkable milestone, it will be in large part because of Tesla, right? This is arguably his biggest success. The EV company is the most valuable automaker on the planet. It's worth $720 billion. That's more than Bank of America, Coca Cola and Starbucks combined.

And if Wall Street continues to pour money into this company, which I think that stock chart shows they have, although it's been bumpy lately. But if this stock continues to go higher and higher, then of course, Musk net worth will go even higher.

Now right now, Musk is worth $250 billion this report from Informa projects that he will become the first trillionaire by 2027. You can see his net worth is up $21 billion so far this year, the year is not even over. It's kind of incredible. But whether or not he hits this milestone?

[08:50:00]

You know, it's not a slam dunk, obviously, if the market had a downturn, if Tesla stumbled badly, well, that could delay or even cancel this milestone altogether. But clearly, Musk has a nice head start here. He is the richest guy on the planet by a long shot, right?

$41 billion richer than the number two person on that list. Amazon Co- Founder Jeff Bezos. He's well ahead of others including Facebook Co- Founder Mark Zuckerberg and Larry Ellison, Bernard Arnault. You know, Musk, he owns a rowing empire here, right? This is not just about Tesla. He also has Co-Founded XAI, the artificial intelligence startup, the boring company, which is a tunneling construction company, the brain chip startup, Neuralink.

And then there's maybe the most controversial part of his empire, that's X, the social media company formerly known as Twitter. Since Musk has taken control, this company has come under fire for how it polices misinformation and disinformation. It also lost a lot of value, but not enough to really do any sort of damage to Elon Musk's net worth.

And Fredricka I think there's bigger picture. The fact we're even talking about someone potentially becoming a trillionaire does raise some serious questions about how much power and influence one person can have? And how much wealth one person can have, especially at a time of vast income and wealth inequality Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: OK. So, are there any challenges ahead for him, potentially for Tesla?

EGAN: Well, Tesla certainly faces some challenges. I mean, when you really think about it, Musk has talked in the past about how this company nearly went out of business in 2008. He said they were days away before they got a $40 million rescue. There was also all the controversy over Elon Musk saying that there was funding secured for a go private deal years ago. But more recently, Tesla has faced some challenges in terms of competition, right?

All the other big automakers here in the U.S., they are diving into the EV game, in large part because they've been inspired by Musk and Tesla. But more importantly, Tesla faces a lot of competition from overseas EV companies, most notably in China. And so, they've got to get through all of those challenges if they want the share price to continue to rise. And again, if it does keep going up, then yes, we could be talking about Musk becoming a trillionaire.

WHITFIELD: Pretty incredible.

EGAN: Right.

WHITFIELD: Matt Egan, thank you.

EGAN: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Stop the clocks, more Oasis tickets have gone on sale for new tour dates after fans were stung by sky high prices a couple of weeks ago. So, what's the story Morning Glory? CNN's Anna Stewart reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's the reunion fans had been calling for.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When both come together --

STEWART (voice-over): The Gallagher Brothers are getting back together after 15 years. Fans were left looking back in anger over ticket shortages and supersonic prices.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They will never spend 350 -- quid for a standard ticket to go and see a band.

STEWART (voice-over): It's all down to the controversial use of dynamic pricing for concert tickets, and the UK watchdog is now investigating.

NICOLAS DE ROOS, PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL: If a seller is not sure how many people want to turn up, they might want to adjust prices over time as they get more information.

STEWART (voice-over): In the case of Oasis tickets, fans waited hoping to buy a ticket for 135 pounds on Ticketmaster, but then some tickets went for more than 350 pounds. There was definitely, maybe a feeling of injustice, but maybe the prime minister will be the one to save, well, Oasis fans.

KEIR STARMER, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: From what I've determined about half the country is probably queuing for tickets. I'm committed to putting fans at the heart of music and earned extortionate price resales. We're starting a consultation to work out how best we can do it.

STEWART: Oasis announced new tour dates days after tickets went on sale, music to the ears of those who didn't get any but is it fair for those who had already splashed out?

ROOS: It's not illegal to have dynamic pricing. What is potentially illegal is the -- is the transparency element. So, if there's any deception, and if it can be argued that consumers were deceived when they -- when they began their purchase.

STEWART (voice-over): A Ticketmaster Spokesperson told CNN, the company doesn't set ticket prices that's decided by promoters and artists, and they can be fixed or dynamic. It's not the first time Ticketmaster has been under scrutiny.

[08:55:00]

Taylor Swift fans crashed the site trying to book tickets to the Era's Tour, prompting the DOJ to file an antitrust suit, which its owner Live Nation called faceless. Ultimately, the stadiums were packed for Swift, and there are always fans willing to pay a high price to see a rock and roll star, Anna Stewart, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Yeah, very fun. All right, a New York City Art Show hopes to promote harmony between man and animal. 100 wooden elephant figures have popped up in New York's a trendy meatpacking district. It's part of an art installation titled "The Great Elephant Migration". The pieces are for sale with proceeds going to conservation groups. Thank you so much for joining me here in the CNN Newsroom. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. "Connect the World" with Eleni Giokos is up next.

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